Enhancing Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity In Pain Research

This webinar - held on 29 January 2025 - was produced by the International Association for the Study of Pain's Methodology, Evidence Synthesis, and Implementation Special Interest Group (MESISIG). MESISIG aims to:

• Foster a widespread interest in the production, methods and critical appraisal of high-quality evidence and evidence synthesis.
• Provide a forum for the dissemination and promotion of skills, methodological best practice and promote innovations across the full breadth of pain research.

For pain research to be trustworthy and valuable for all members of society it must strive to be equitable, diverse, and inclusive. This requires confronting discriminatory and oppressive practices to assist in developing and promoting these values in our research communities, to be used in how we undertake research, with whom, and how research is communicated.

In this MESISIG workshop, we were delighted to welcome three international researchers who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in this area. Talks made the case for improving practice and gave practical examples of how, as a research community, we can move towards more equitable, diverse, and inclusive research.

Participants included:

• Anna Hood, PhD – University of Manchester, UK, Why equity, diversity, and inclusion are critical to trustworthy evidence, the case for change, and actionable steps to achieve good practice
• Emma Karran, PhD – University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia, Shining a light on ED&I through improved data collection and reporting
• Hemakumar Devan, MPhty PhD – University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand, Coproducing knowledge with indigenous communities, successes and challenges
• Neil O’Connell, PhD – Brunel University of London, UK (moderator)