From Micro to Macro: How Sleep, Perception, and Relationships Shape Pain

Erin MacIntyre is a post-doctoral researcher, pain scientist, and physiotherapist at the Persistent Pain Research Group, Adelaide University. Her research explores links between visual perception and pain and explores the development and clinical translation of new brain-based interventions for chronic pain. She has developed new mediated and virtual reality interventions that make exercise easier, more engaging, and less painful for those with painful knee osteoarthritis.

She has more than 15 peer-reviewed publications in top journals (PAIN, Clinical Psychology Reviews, BMJ) and has presented her work nationally and internationally at >15 conferences. She has been awarded competitive grants to pursue her own independent research from Arthritis Australia and Osteoarthritis Research Society International. The quality of her PhD work has been recognised through several awards, including Best Paper of the Year from the IASP Pain, Mind, and Movement SIG, and the Ian Davey Thesis Prize recognising the most outstanding thesis at the University of South Australia in 2025.

Nils Runge is a doctoral researcher affiliated with Vrije Universiteit Brussel and KU Leuven. He investigates the connection between sleep disturbances and chronic musculoskeletal pain. More specifically, his research examines the consistency of terminology and definitions used to describe sleep issues in this context, the relationships between subjective and objective sleep parameters and pain, and the effects of sleep interventions on pain management.

Mark Vorensky is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation and Movement Sciences at the Rutgers University School of Health Professions. He received his Doctor of Physical Therapy from Ithaca College and his PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences from New York University. His research examines how social and contextual factors influence persistent musculoskeletal pain. He also examines physical therapists’ decision-making when working with individuals with persistent widespread pain.

Anabela G. Silva is a Professor at the School of Health, University of Aveiro, Portugal. Her main research interests relate to low back and neck pain prevention and management from a biopsychosocial perspective and pain in older adults.  Her team is also involved in the conception of digital health interventions (definition of functional requirements), co-creation, and testing with end users.