All Discussions

The 2020 PRF Virtual Correspondents Blog

by PRF Correspondents on 3 Aug 2020

Comment

Eight early-career researchers are taking part in the first cycle of the PRF Virtual Correspondents Program. This science communications training program provides participants with knowledge and skills needed to…

Discussion

A Message to the PRF Community from IASP President Lars Arendt-Nielsen

by Lars Arendt-Nielsen on 15 Apr 2020

Comment

Editor’s note: The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), PRF’s publisher, recently made the difficult decision to postpone the World Congress on Pain until next year due…

Discussion

The IASP Global Alliance of Pain Patient Advocates (GAPPA): Incorporating the Lived Experience of Pain into the Study of Pain

by PRF Team on 18 Mar 2020

Comment

This article was originally published on RELIEF, the IASP Pain Research Forum's companion website for patients and the wider public, and is reposted here for the benefit of the…

Discussion

In Memoriam: Ronald Melzack (1929-2019)

by Terence Coderre on 11 Mar 2020

Comment

Editor’s note: Terence J. Coderre, PhD (Alan Edwards Centre for Research on Pain, McGill University, Montreal, Canada), and Lucia Gagliese, PhD (School of Kinesiology and Health Science, York University,…

Discussion

Open Science: Sharing Is Caring

by Tory Madden on 26 Aug 2019

Comment

This article is co-authored by Tory Madden, University of Cape Town, South Africa, and Peter Kamerman, University of the Witwatersrand, Parktown, South Africa.

Discussion

The 2019 PRF-NAPS Correspondents Blog

by PRF Correspondents on 14 Jul 2019

Comment

Six early-career pain researchers are participating in the PRF-NAPS Correspondents program during the 2019 North American Pain School, which took place June 23-28 in Montebello, Quebec City, Canada.

Discussion

The 7th International Congress on Neuropathic Pain (NeuPSIG 2019) PRF Correspondents Blog

by PRF Correspondents on 10 May 2019

Comment

The PRF Correspondents Blogged Live From NeuPSIG 2019!

Discussion

A Recipe for Good Pain Research: Are Patient Perspectives the Missing Ingredient?

by Lauren Heathcote on 8 Nov 2018

Comment

Editor’s note: The third North American Pain School (NAPS) took place June 24-28, 2018, in Montebello, Quebec, Canada.

Discussion

Viewpoint—On the Threshold of a New Analgesic: Shaping a Novel Treatment for Osteoarthritis Pain

by Michael Iadarola on 25 Sep 2018

Comment

Editor’s note: In this viewpoint, the authors share personal reflections on their recent study testing the TRPV1 agonist resiniferatoxin to treat osteoarthritis pain in canines, which they say shows…

Discussion

IASP 2018 World Congress on Pain PRF Correspondents Blog

by PRF Correspondents on 16 Sep 2018

Comment

The PRF Correspondents are blogging from the IASP 2018 World Congress on Pain!

Discussion

A New Vaccine for Shingles: Reflections by Anne Louise Oaklander

by Anne Louise Oaklander on 28 Nov 2017

Comment

Editor's note: In this essay, Anne Louise Oaklander, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, US, reflects on the advent of a new vaccine, Shingrix, to prevent shingles,…

Discussion

Does the Location of Pain Matter?

by Harriet Kemp on 31 Aug 2017

NAPS trainees present their arguments at graduate student debate

Discussion

Last comment: Heather Rossi, 5 Nov 2017

Surprising that the tendency for co-morbidity of different conditions did not come up in the debate. Perhaps that goes in favor of the "cons" but maybe not, as treatment… more

Comment
1 comment
1 member recommends
Recommend

Pain Management and the Opioid Epidemic: Balancing Societal and Individual Benefits and Risks of Prescription Opioid Use (Book Review)

by Howard Fields on 22 Aug 2017

Comment

This study was sponsored by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with four major objectives....

Discussion

Modality-Specific TRPV1 Antagonist Analgesia: What Are the Prospects?

by Michel Pare on 9 Feb 2015

Editors’ note: PRF member Michel Paré is president and co-founder of PhylogenX, a contract research organization in Montreal, Canada. Paré submitted the following comment about a new TRPV1 blocker…

Discussion

Last comment: PRF Team, 1 Feb 2016

UPDATE: NEOMED has received approval from Health Canada to begin a phase II clinical trial of NEO6860, its TRPV1 antagonist, for the treatment of osteoarthritis pain. Read more at http://neomed.ca/en/neomed-to-initiate-its-first-phase-ii-clinical-trial-in-canada/
…

Comment
2 comments
2 members recommend
Recommend

Access to Raw Behavioral Data From Preclinical Research Papers

by Rosemary Morland on 21 Sep 2015

Editor’s note: Rosemary Morland completed postdoctoral work with Andrew Rice at Imperial College London, UK, and is now a freelance medical writer and editor. Morland submitted the following comment…

Discussion

Last comment: Peter Kamerman, 28 Sep 2015

Thanks for a great article Rosemary.

This is an important topic, and one in which medical sciences lag far behind other fields. I had not directly encountered the issue until… more

Closing the Sex Gap in Preclinical Pain Research

by Stephani Sutherland on 27 May 2015

Comment

Investigators agree that both males and females should be included in preclinical studies, but should the National Institutes of Health require it?

Discussion

In Memoriam: Jean-Marie Besson (1938-2014)

by Tony Dickenson on 9 Mar 2015

Comment

Editor's Note: This remembrance of pioneering pain researcher Jean-Marie Besson was co-authored by Tony Dickenson, University College London, UK, and Luis Villaneuva, Centre de Psychiatrie et Neurosciences, INSERM UMR…

Discussion

In Memoriam: Edward Perl (1926-2014)

by Alan Light on 5 Aug 2014

Editors' Note: Alan Light, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, US, remembers the life and work of a pioneering pain researcher. We invite you to share your memories of…

Discussion

Last comment: Mark Zylka, 19 Dec 2014

Perl Memorial Lecture to honor the life and work of Dr. Edward Perl, January 23, 2015.

As nicely described by Dr. Light above, Dr. Edward Perl spent the majority of… more

A Nation in Pain: Healing our Biggest Health Problem (Book Review)

by Howard Fields on 1 May 2014

Judy Foreman has written a remarkable book about pain. Although aimed at an educated and curious non-professional readership it contains information and perspective that will be of great value…

Discussion

Last comment: Neil Andrews, 15 May 2014

I think it is worth a mention here that Judy Foreman recently received the 2014 Kathleen Foley Journalist Award from the American Pain Society. The honor, presented at the… more

Sensitization and Catastrophizing: Introspection Confirmed Experimentally

by Carl L von Baeyer on 25 Feb 2014

I had a strange experience recently. My own reaction to it seemed interesting enough to warrant closer examination, and that, in turn, led to a useful insight. Eighteenth century…

Discussion

Last comment: Simon van Rysewyk, 25 Feb 2014

Hi Carl,

This article wonderfully demonstrates the effectiveness of investigator-subjects and introspection in pain research. Donald D. Price advocates this approach. I wonder if this method has been used in… more

The Intersection of Fungal Inoculation, Diagnosis, and Pain Management: Commentary on the Consumer Experience With Unsafe Products and Practices

by Terri Lewis on 8 Jul 2013

Editors' Note: PRF member Terri Lewis is a rehabilitation counselor and volunteer patient advocate. Lewis submitted the following perspective and commentary on the fungal meningitis outbreak that occurred when…

Discussion

Last comment: Richard Dobson, 9 Aug 2013

While perusing the PRF site, I found some interesting information in an interview with Dr. Anne Louise Oaklander. Many people with chronic back pain are poorly understood and misdiagnosed,… more

Opioids and Road Trauma: Is It the Medicine, the Pain, or Both?

by PRF News Editor on 12 Feb 2013

At a time of increasing concern among physicians, public health advocates, and the lay public about the adverse consequences of high-dose opioids for chronic non-cancer pain, new research on…

Discussion

Last comment: Richard Dobson, 9 Jul 2013

The physical and neurologic impact of chronic pain simply has not been explored, in my opinion. For example, pain is a major risk factor for falls and medications are… more

US National Institutes of Health Releases First Federal Plan to Advance Research on Overlapping Pain Conditions

by Christin Veasley on 12 Mar 2013

Comment

Editors’ note: Christin Veasley, the Executive Director of the National Vulvodynia Association and Co-founder of the Chronic Pain Research Alliance sent this report on an August 2012 NIH workshop…

Discussion

A Long Way to Go: A Grad Student’s View of the Neurobiology of Disease Workshop at Neuroscience 2012, New Orleans

by Shan Lou on 7 Feb 2013

Comment

How much do we know about pain? Which would you choose from 0-10? In the Neurobiology of Disease workshop, held in conjunction with the Society for Neuroscience meeting in…

Discussion

Discovery and Translation: Do We Have the Right Strategy?

by Robert Yezierski on 22 Oct 2012

Comment

There is little doubt that there have been far too many quiet moments when it comes to talking about the success of translational pain research. Over the past five…

Discussion

Specificity Versus Patterning Theory: Continuing the Debate

by Allan Basbaum on 24 Jun 2011

Does the brain process and interpret innocuous and noxious stimuli by “reading” a pattern of activity across multimodal lines of activity, or are there specific, labeled lines that carry…

Discussion

Last comment: Vania Apkarian, 18 Jun 2012

A theoretical view of ghosts

I too had thought that the debate between specificity and pattern theory was one that was buried with the passing of its main proponents. I… more

Pressure-point Pain and Lack of Response To It

by Donald Dalley on 3 May 2012

I have practiced martial arts now for more than 11 years and would like to understand why I don't feel some pain associated with the techniques applied to so…

Discussion

Last comment: Donald Dalley, 18 May 2012

There are a number of factors that may affect my nerve responses.

- C fibres are unmyelinated causing a slow response

- Remak bundle conditions, although my change in age doesn't seem… more

What Is the Reason for Lack of Translation in the Pain Field?

by Jeffrey Mogil on 28 Mar 2011

EDITOR'S NOTE: For this Inaugural Forum, Jeffrey Mogil of McGill University raises the question why have the fruits of basic research in the pain field not translated into new…

Discussion

Last comment: Mary Hannaman, 17 May 2012

A deepening chasm separates the knowledge obtained from a physician touching a patient with persistent pain and the expression of this knowledge in an animal model.

This division exists since… more

Comment
9 comments
1 member recommends
Recommend

Pain In Parkinson's Disease: Is Neurodegeneration in Peripheral Nerves to Blame?

by Joseph Martin on 6 Apr 2011

Neurologists have by tradition separated disorders of the central nervous system from those affecting the peripheral nervous system. Arguments for this distinction have noted the role of the blood-brain-barrier…

Discussion

Last comment: Kenneth Casey, 7 May 2012

The hypothesis offered by Reichling and Levine is interesting and provocative. However, the peripheral abnormalities they cite seem likely to be of marginal clinical significance for the chronic pain… more

Neuroscience 2011: A Student’s Eye View

by Shan Lou on 27 Jan 2012

Comment

EDITOR'S NOTE: Shan Lou is a graduate student in the lab of Quifu Ma, Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, where she studies the development of…

Discussion

“Redundancy” of Endocannabinoid Inactivation in Pain Control: What Do We Make of It?

by Vincenzo Di Marzo on 6 Dec 2011

Comment

EDITOR’S NOTE: In this analysis, Vincenzo Di Marzo discusses recent developments in understanding endocannabinoid actions and metabolism, and efforts to target these lipid mediators as a novel approach to…

Discussion

Diabetic Neuropathic Pain Models

by Savithri Shivakumar on 3 Nov 2011

Comment

Diabetic neuropathic pain is mainly seen in Type II diabetes in the clinical situation. However, the model widely used is the streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic neuropathy model in rats. Is there…

Discussion

NIH Institutes/Centers Proposal to Common Fund: Biomarkers for chronic pain using functional brain connectivity

by Zhuo Wang on 12 Oct 2011

Comment

Original idea and comments at NIH Common Fund web page.

Discussion

Pain Communications

by Ali Khatibi on 3 Aug 2011

Comment

Pain is not just an internal experience, it is shared with others in a number of ways. Observers can see, evaluate and interpret peoples' painful experiences.

Discussion

Progress through collaboration

Utility Navigation

User Top Menu

Main menu

Search form

You are here

Forums

Featured Forums

Most Popular Forums

Search Forums

The IASP Pain Research Forum is a publication of the International Association for the Study of Pain