
Upcoming Webinars
Can't make a webinar? IASP webinars are recorded and made available to all who register soon after the completion of the live webinar.
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Contains 3 Component(s) Includes a Live Web Event on 07/10/2025 at 6:30 AM (EDT)
Pain, Mind, and Movement SIG Webinar 2025
10 July 2025 at 6:30 a.m. ET
Free to IASP Members; $25USD for Non-members (Click here to become an IASP Member)
This webinar is hosted by the Pain, Mind, and Movement SIG.
We are excited to announce this webinar, in which we will present and discuss the work of the Best Pain, Mind, and Movement 1st Publication Award! Join us in discussing the complex interaction between pain and perception, sleep, and therapeutic relationships, and their implications for the treatment of persons with pain.
The three presentations below converge in highlighting the need for a comprehensive approach in understanding and treating chronic pain, emphasizing the integration of perceptual, physiological, and interpersonal elements in therapeutic interventions.
Speakers:
• Erin MacIntyre (1st prize winner), from the University of South Australia, will present her work showing visuospatial distortions in people with painful knee osteoarthritis (OA) relative to pain-free controls.
• Nils Runge (honourable mention), from Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the KU Leuven, will discuss the bidirectional relationship between sleep problems and chronic musculoskeletal pain.
• Mark Vorensky (honourable mention), from Rutgers University, will contrast the effects of enhanced and limited patient-clinician relationships on pain and objective functional measures for individuals with chronic low back pain.Moderator:
Anabela G. Silva, University of Aveiro, Professor
Erin MacIntyre
PhD Student
University of South Australia
Erin MacIntyre is a clinician-researcher in the final year of her PhD at the Persistent Pain Research Group based at the University of South Australia. Her work explores the links between pain, movement, and visuospatial perception in people with knee osteoarthritis. Her research also focuses on the development and clinical implementation of new technology (e.g., virtual reality) that exploits these links between pain and visual perception to reduce pain and improve exercise engagement.
Nils Runge
PhD candidate
Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Belgium
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, PT, DPT
Assistant Professor - Department of Rehabilitation and Movement Sciences
Rutgers University
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, PhD (Moderator)
Professor
University of Aveiro
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.
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Contains 3 Component(s) Includes a Live Web Event on 07/21/2025 at 10:00 AM (EDT)
Presented by the Pain Research Forum
3:00 pm UK Time
This webinar is for anyone wanting to understand what is meant by ‘trustworthy’ research. It brings together researchers, clinicians, editors, and methodologists to explore how trust in research can be built through governance, rigorous methods, transparent reporting, and inclusive practice. Speakers will share practical tools and frameworks to help identify potential problems in clinical research and outline how to produce evidence that can be relied upon. The session will conclude with a public Q&A with all speakers, and joined by expert on evidence synthesis and preclinical research rigour, Dr. Nadia Soliman (University College London, UK).
For those who are not able to attend this live webinar it will be recorded and posted to IASP's learning portal PERC.
The webinar will include talks from:
- Dr. Neil O’Connell (Brunel University of London, UK) - A framework for enhancing trust in (pain) research (ENTRUST-PE)
- Dr. Jack Wilkinson (Manchester University, UK) Identifying fake trials and data, based on the INSPECT-SR tool
- Ms. Amandine Sénéquier (Queen Mary University of London, UK) & Dr. David Hohenschurz-Schmidt (Imperial College London, UK) - Studying and improving trustworthiness in research of small and under-resourced professions, drawing on a recent review of manual therapy trials just published in the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
- Dr. Jerry Draper-Rodi (National Council of Osteopathic Research) - Research critics and clinical pragmatists: Finding common ground in healthcare
- Dr. Lesley Uttley (University of Sheffield, UK) - Hallmarks of trusted research: A meta perspective
- Dr. David Tovey (EIC, Journal of Clinical Epidemiology) - Research trustworthiness and integrity from the perspective of journal editors
Neil O'Connell, PhD
Professor of Evidence-Based Healthcare
Brunel University of London
Dr. O'Connell is Professor of Evidence-Based Healthcare in the Physiotherapy Division of the Department of Health Sciences at Brunel University. Neil's research interests focus on the evidence-based management of persistent pain and he has published extensively in this area. He also leads and teaches modules on clinical research methods and evidence-based practice for pre- and post-graduate clinicians. Neil was the Co-ordinating editor for the Cochrane Pain, Palliative and Supportive Care (PaPaS) group from 2020-23 and is a member of Cochrane's central editorial board. He was a member of the Guideline Development Group for the UK's National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) 2016 clinical guideline on the management of low back pain and sciatica. Neil is the current Chair of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) Methods, Evidence Synthesis and Implementation Special Interest Group (MESIGIG). Neil is the Scientific Co-ordinator ENhancing TRUST in Pain Evidence (ENTRUST-PE) network supported by the ERA-NET Neuron Cofund. See https://entrust-pe.org/ .
Jack Wilkinson, PhD
Senior Lecturer in Clinical Trial Statistics
Manchester University
As Senior Lecturer in Clinical Trial Statistics at Manchester University, Dr. Wilkinson's research relates to evaluation of health interventions and methodology for this purpose. He has a particular interest in reproductive medicine, and an international portfolio of clinical trials in this field. Jack has expertise in methods for assessing the authenticity of health research, including the detection of research fraud. He is currently leading the NIHR-funded INSPECT-SR (INveStigating ProblEmatic Clinical Trials in Systematic Reviews) project, which is an international collaborative effort to develop a tool for assessing the authenticity of randomised controlled trials.
Amandine Sénéquier
Clinician and Doctoral Student
Queen Mary University of London
Amandine is a clinician and PhD student at Queen Mary University of London. Her research focuses on the relationship between physical activity and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in girls and women. She recently was the first author of a systematic review investigating how trustworthy osteopathic clinical trials have been over the past 2.5 years. Amandine is particularly interested in how physical activity can promote better health, with a strong focus on addressing gender gaps in research studies.
David Hohenschurz-Schmidt, PhD
NIHR Development and Skills Enhancement (DSE) Fellow
Imperial College London
Dr. Hohenschurz-Schmidt is a clinician, educator, and pain researcher, currently an NIHR Development and Skills Enhancement Fellow at the Imperial Clinical Trials Unit, Imperial College London. His work focuses on improving clinical trial methods and developing physical and psychological interventions for people living with pain, particularly in the context of long-term conditions like diabetes. He serves on several research and funding committees, including the Society for Back Pain Research and on the Editorial Board of BMC Medical Research Methodology.
Jerry Draper-Rodi, PhD
Associate Professor
University College of Osteopathy
Dr. Draper-Rodi is the Director of the National Council for Osteopathic Research (NCOR), Associate Professor at UCO School of Osteopathy (Health Sciences University), and co-director of the Centre for Osteopathic Research and Leadership at HSU. As institutional lead for HSU within the UK Reproducibility Network and Chair of the Osteopathy Europe Research Standing Committee, his scholarly work centres on knowledge mobilisation, notably establishing the first osteopathic practice-based research network in the UK. His research streams also encompass Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) within healthcare education and practice.
David Tovey, FRCGP
Co-Editor in Chief
Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
Dr. Tovey is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology and former Editor-in-Chief of the Cochrane library. Since 2021, David has served as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, a role he shares with Associate Professor Andrea C. Tricco. He also holds several editorial and scientific advisory roles, including Chair of the Campbell Technical Advisory Group and member of the Medical Strategy Advisory Board for Dr Evidence LLC. David was the inaugural Editor-in-Chief of the Cochrane Library from 2009, overseeing the quality of Cochrane Reviews and the work of 52 Review Groups. With his team and expert methodologists, he established the Methodological Expectations for the Conduct and Reporting of Cochrane Intervention Reviews (MECIR). He also led initiatives with Cochrane’s publisher to enhance the Library’s content, presentation, and visibility. In 2019, he stepped down and was appointed Emeritus Editor-in-Chief. Before 2009, David worked in the BMJ’s Knowledge department in London, responsible for its evidence products Clinical Evidence and BestTreatments. He joined the BMJ in 2003 as Deputy Editor of Clinical Evidence, later becoming its Editor, and ultimately Editorial Director. From 1989 to 2003, David was a GP and senior partner in a large, diverse urban practice in South London.
Lesley Uttley, PhD
Senior Research Fellow
University of Sheffield
Dr. Uttley a meta-research methodologist and Senior Research Fellow at the University of Sheffield with a fellowship examining the research integrity of systematic reviews, funded by the UKRI MRC. Her educational background is psychology which has cultivated an interest in examining how people influence research outputs. As well as leading Systematic Reviewlution, Lesley provides methodological input and advice on inclusive research on the ESRC funded Behavioural Research UK project (2023-2027) and the NIHR funded Sheffield Biomedical Research Centre (2024-2026). Lesley is a current Editorial Board Member for the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, having previously been Guest Editor for the journal’s Special Issue "Methodological Aspects of Research Integrity and Research Culture.”
Nadia Soliman, PhD
Research Fellow
EPPI Centre at University of College London
Dr. Soliman is a Research Fellow at the EPPI Centre, University College London. Her background is in pharmacology and her PhD focused on improving the feasibility, efficiency and accuracy of systematic reviews while asking questions of neurobiological importance. She is now working on DESTINY - a Wellcome funded consortium - developing digital evidence synthesis tools for the responsible use of AI and automation for evidence synthesis and policy making in climate and health. A proponent of open research practices, her research has provided empirical evidence that highlights the impact of the lack of open and transparent reporting, and she is committed to improving the integrity and trustworthiness of pain research. She is a UK Reproducibility Local Network Lead and serves on the Journal of Pain as an Openness and Transparency Editor. She also has an interest in sharing her military experiences and knowledge of leadership development to engender a more positive research culture.
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Product not yet rated Contains 3 Component(s) Includes a Live Web Event on 08/05/2025 at 8:30 AM (EDT)
Trauma-informed Approach to Pain and Human Aspects of Care
5 August 2025 at 8:30 a.m. EDT
This Global Year 2025 webinar is free to all.
This webinar is presented on behalf of the Pain and Trauma Special Interest Group.
Many patients attending pain management services have previous experiences of trauma, with disclosures often emerging during treatment. Clinicians can find this hard and may lack skills, confidence and training to deliver psychologically informed care. Struggling to support people living with complex and chronic conditions, where distress is commonplace in clinical encounters and can lead to professional demoralization and burnout. Emotions are central to human experience, relationships and an inextricable part of care. Distress is a common and often reasonable response within persistent pain care contexts, especially for people who have experienced trauma. However, distress is often pathologized and individualized and poorly navigated by physiotherapists. In this presentation we describe how current physiotherapy practices can be rational, task orientated, and focused the body in pain. Such approaches can unintentionally neglect other dimensions of the human experience, including emotions. This may negatively impact clinicians and patients, risk re-traumatization, and limit the development of trusting and safe therapeutic relationships and spaces. We draw from sociological theories of emotions to propose a more relational approach to care, shifting the focus beyond the individual in pain to include the physiotherapist and the many social, cultural, political, and structural forces that influence relation-centered care. We explain why this is necessary when working with people who have experienced trauma. We will also present findings from a qualitative service evaluation exploring patients’ experiences when engaging with persistent pain services. Emerging themes suggest patients can feel safe in a ‘bubble’ of care as compared to the threat of outside, experience a transformation over time toward sense-making and discovery but there is a risk of re-traumatization. We offer recommendations to inform clinician training and practice. Psychologically Informed Collaborative Conversations (PIC-C) is a co-produced training and supervision package that has been shown to be effective in improving the skills and confidence of physiotherapists managing adults with pain. It is also suitable for delivery for pediatric professionals and has a positive impact on physiotherapist’ confidence in using psychologically informed ways of working. An important theme from participant feedback was the emotionally challenging nature of the training but that this ultimately was a valuable and affirming experience. Finally, we will draw on the experiences of providing rehabilitation in UK-Med’s Emergency Medical Team Response in Gaza to explore the application of a trauma-informed approach to experiences of acute and persistent pain, historical trauma, ongoing stress, and life-changing injuries. Building on the previous content shared in the session, examples will demonstrate how physiotherapists can consider in their treatment the emotional experiences and social, cultural, political, and structural forces that shape the person’s lived experience of pain. Additionally, examples will illustrate how a de-pathologizing approach to understanding cultural idioms of distress and cultural healing practices can be integrated into physiotherapy clinical practice as a method of embodying a trauma-informed approach to pain. As feasible, the presenter will integrate the lived experiences of rehab providers in Gaza. The webinar will conclude with an interactive session enabling further exploration of attending to the human aspects of care.
Learning Objectives
· Define and articulate psychologically informed and trauma informed practice in terms of their own practice.
· Identify learning needs with regard to psychologically informed and trauma informed practice including engaging a more relational approach to care.
· Compare and contrast the implementation of psychologically informed and trauma informed practice in different frameworks and contexts including relational frameworks and response to emergency situations.
Speakers
- Miriam Dillon
- April Gamble
- Clair Jacobs
- Lester Jones
Miriam Dillon
Post Doctoral Research Fellow
School of Social Science, University of Queensland
Miriam is an experienced physiotherapist and post doctoral research fellow at the School of Social Science at the University of Queensland, Australia. She has worked in various areas of physiotherapy before focusing on chronic pain physiotherapy over the last 8 years. She completed a masters in musculoskeletal physiotherapy at the University of Queensland, before undertaking her doctoral research. Miriam’s research takes a critical approach, utilising a variety of sociology theories and qualitative methodologies to challenge taken for granted norms within physiotherapy care. Her research traces distress in persistent pain care exploring how distress is produced within the clinic, and how it is recognised and navigated by physiotherapists. Miriam is passionate about increasing awareness of the social, cultural and emotional aspects of health and illness experiences and care, in order to provide more equitable and care for all people.
April Gamble, PT, DPT
UK-Med ; Wchan Organization for Victims of Human Rights Violations, Iraq
April Gamble earned their Doctor of Physical Therapy in the USA. They have been living full time in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq since 2017. They have over ten years of experience in community-driven efforts to develop persistent pain, mental health, and trauma-focused rehabilitation. April is the Senior Health Advisor in UK-Med where they lead the integration of rehabilitation and mental health and psychosocial support into disaster responses and the most globally deployed Emergency Medical Team. April is the Physiotherapy Director at Wchan Organization for Human Rights Violations in Kurdistan, leading interdisciplinary rehabilitation services for survivors of torture and war trauma. They are also one of the founding members of the Community of Practice for Fostering Excellence in Trauma-Informed Pain Rehabilitation, a group of rehabilitation professionals from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region collaborating to promote contextually relevant pain care in the region. April contributes to funding efforts, research activities, program and service development projects, and professional education initiatives in the USA, Kurdistan, Federal Iraq, Armenia, and the greater MENA Region. In addition to numerous conference presentations, April’s publication credits include textbooks chapters in international texts and clinical research trials and systematic reviews in peer reviewed international journals.
Clair Jacobs, MSc
Vice-Chair of Pain and Trauma SIG
.INPUT Pain Management, St Thomas’s NHS trust
Clair works clinically as Physiotherapy Clinical Lead at INPUT Pain Management, Guys and St Thomas NHS Trust alongside Pain and Leadership teaching both in the Physiotherapy Division at Brunel University and External as Sen. Lecturer (Professional Practice) Physiotherapy. Clair has worked in chronic pain management for most of her career in secondary and tertiary service including overseas. She is interested in psychologically informed and narrative approaches in health care graduating in Narrative Medicine, Columbia University and Narrative Based Approaches. She is serving on national and International committees including Co-Chair of the Physiotherapy Pain Association and Co-Education Lead since 2019 and Vice-Chair of Pain and Trauma SIG, IASP (previously Pain of Torture, Organized Violence, and War SIG).
Lester Jones, PhD
Secretary, Pain and Trauma SIG
Singapore Institute of Technology
Lester Jones is an experienced educator and APA-titled Pain Physiotherapist. He has had academic positions in the United Kingdom, Australia and now Singapore (since 2018), where he is a Senior Lecturer at Singapore Institute of Technology. Much of his scholarly work has been exploring pain as a multidimensional experience and includes the application of the Pain and Movement Reasoning Model which he co-created. He was the first physiotherapist awarded MScMed(PainMgt), the inaugural chair of APA National Pain Group and was the lead tutor on pain topics for La Trobe University's Masters program for Sports and Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy. He is currently into his third term on the Pain Association of Singapore Council. He is the Secretary of the International Association of the Study of Pain (IASP) SIG Pain and Trauma (formerly Pain related to Torture, Organised Violence and War). Since September 2022, he is an elected member of the IASP Council.
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Product not yet rated Contains 3 Component(s) Includes a Live Web Event on 09/09/2025 at 2:00 PM (EDT)
MSK Pain SIG
9 September 2025 at 2:00 p.m. EDT
Free to IASP Members; $25 USD Non-Members (click here to become an IASP Member)Sponsored by the Musculoskeletal Pain SIG
Musculoskeletal pain and sleep disturbances are highly prevalent conditions that frequently co-occur, significantly impacting individuals' quality of life, mood, functional capacity, and overall well-being. While it is well-established that these two issues often present together, the intricate nature of their relationship, including the underlying mechanisms and optimal treatment strategies, continues to be an area of active investigation. This webinar will explore the current state of knowledge regarding the interactions between sleep and musculoskeletal pain.
Moderated by: David Rice, Auckland University of Technology and North Shore Hospital, Auckland
Speaker 1: The bidirectional relationship between sleep problems and musculoskeletal pain, Nils Runge Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Belgium
Chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP) and sleep disturbances are frequently observed together and are often described as having a bidirectional relationship. However, much of what we know about this co-occurrence stems from observational research, where sleep problems and disorders are defined and measured in diverse ways, limiting the generalizability of findings. These inconsistencies contribute to wide variation in reported prevalence rates and complicate efforts to compare results across studies. This presentation will explore the current epidemiological evidence on sleep problems, particularly in the context of CMP. It will highlight what is well established, where important gaps remain, and how challenges related to terminology, definitions, and measurement continue to shape our understanding and limit cross-study comparability.
Speaker 2: Sleep and Affective Function in Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain , Patrick Finan, University of Virginia, USA
Sleep disturbance is associated with elevated pain sensitivity and clinical pain, and recent studies suggest that affective function may be a key mechanism underlying that association. This talk will cover laboratory and field-based evidence supporting the roles of both resilience (e.g., positive affect) and vulnerability (e.g., pain catastrophizing) factors that characterize the association of sleep and pain. The Sleep-Reward-Pain model will be discussed and data will be presented that links the interrelations of sleep, affect, and pain to prescription opioid use.
Speaker 3: Current treatments for sleep problems in musculoskeletal pain: An overview, Liesbet De Baets, KU Leuven, Belgium
Sleep problems are highly prevalent in people with musculoskeletal pain and can significantly impact physical functioning, pain and recovery. Despite growing recognition of their importance, sleep issues often remain underdiagnosed and undertreated in this population. In this talk, current treatment strategies for sleep disturbances in musculoskeletal pain will be discussed and the evidence supporting them will be examined. Special attention will be given to how sleep management can be personalized—not only in relation to pain, but also considering comorbid sleep conditions such as sleep apnea and circadian rhythm disorders.
Liesbet De Baets
Associate Professor
KU Leuven, Belgium
Liesbet De Baets is an Associate Professor at KU Leuven and a Visiting Professor at Vrije Universiteit Brussel. She also holds a clinical position at the Pain Clinic of University Hospital Leuven. Her research focuses on the inflammatory, psychological, and physical activity-related mechanisms involved in the relationship between poor sleep and pain in individuals with low back pain and knee osteoarthritis. She coordinates the PREMEO trial, which investigates the effect of sleep treatments integrated into best-evidence knee osteoarthritis care on pain, sleep, and physical activity.
Patrick H. Finan, PhD
Professor of Anesthesiology
University of Virginia, USA
Patrick H. Finan, Ph.D. is the Harold Carron Professor of Anesthesiology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. The Finan Lab focuses broadly on explicating psychological and neurobiological mechanisms of chronic pain. Within that broad domain, Dr. Finan’s team specifically seeks to identify how emotions and pain interact, who evidences characteristics of emotion-related risk and resilience, and when changes in emotions facilitate or inhibit the experience of pain. They employ intensive longitudinal methods to assess behavioral and objective correlates of pain in real time (e.g., sleep; emotions; opioid use; cannabis use), and utilize laboratory-based experimental methods to understand factors influencing pain perception (e.g., sleep deprivation; quantitative sensory testing; fMRI; pharmacological challenge). Additionally, they develop and test novel therapeutic interventions that engage emotion- and sleep-related mechanisms to ameliorate pain and mitigate problematic opioid use.
Nils Runge
PhD candidate
Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Belgium
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.
David Rice, PhD (Moderator)
Associate Professor
Auckland University of Technology & North Shore Hospital
David Rice is an Associate Professor in the School of Clinical Sciences, and a member of the Pain and Musculoskeletal Conditions Research Group at Auckland University of Technology. For the last decade, he has also held a joint position in the Department of Anaesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine at North Shore Hospital in Auckland. David has research interests in the neuromuscular consequences and management of joint injury and arthritis, persistent postsurgical pain and enhanced recovery after surgery. David has received several national and international research awards, is a Past President of the New Zealand Pain Society and is the current Co-Chair of the Musculoskeletal Pain Special Interest Group for the International Association for the Study of Pain.
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