APS Election—Remember to Cast Your Vote

Remember to cast your vote for the APS board and nominating committee by February 28, 2010. You should have received your ballot electronically. For those without e-mail look for your ballot via U.S. mail. If you have any questions about the election, please contact APS as soon as possible at (847) 375-4715.

The Journal of Pain Announces New Editor-in-Chief: Mark Jensen, PhD

Effective January 1, 2010, Mark P. Jensen, PhD, assumed the role of editor-in-chief of The Journal of Pain. Dr. Jensen is a professor and vice chair for research at the
University of Washington School of Medicine, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine.  During his tenure, he has published more than 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals and authored or coauthored 23 book chapters, almost all of which focus on pain assessment, the development of pain theory, or pain treatment. Dr. Jensen has been an editorial board member for The Journal of Pain since 2004 and PAIN since 2005. He has also been associate editor for three indexed journals: the Clinical Journal of Pain, the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, and the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 

Dr. Jensen states, “I believe very strongly in the mission of the APS and in the use of The Journal of Pain for facilitating that mission. My overall vision for the journal is to maintain and build upon the important gains that the journal has made in the last 9 years, with the overarching goals of maintaining strength through diversity of disciplines represented by the authors published in the journal; and maintaining the highest standards of scientific excellence. I see the journal as one of the most important benefits of APS membership, both as a trusted source of the state-of-the-science information concerning pain, and as an outlet for APS member scientists who wish to communicate new findings that move the field forward.”

Register Now for the APS 29th Annual Scientific Meeting!

Online registration for the 29th Annual Scientific Meeting is open! Be sure to check out the APS Annual Meeting page on the APS Web site to learn more about all that’s planned for Baltimore. Information about travel and hotels is posted; book your flight and hotel room now!

Volunteer Application for NIH Study Section Service

Among the overarching strategic goals that guide the work of APS is that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other funders will recognize pain as a distinct and high priority healthcare problem deserving increased resources for research.

By increasing the number of pain experts participating in NIH integrated review groups (IRG) that review pain grants, it is possible to increase the number and quality of pain grant applications being funded. Working in collaboration with NIH, APS has opened an application Web site where interested members may volunteer for nomination to a study section.

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Volunteer Spotlight: Seddon Savage, MD

Seddon Savage, MD, is a clinician, educator, and policy consultant in the fields of addiction medicine and pain medicine. Dr. Savage currently serves as the director of the Dartmouth Center on Addiction, Recovery and Education (DCARE) in Lebanon, NH. She is also the incoming APS president.

Why did you join APS?
When I joined APS in the mid-1980s, pain was a relatively new but burgeoning field. There was growing interest in pain, but colleagues who really appreciated its importance and complexity seemed few and far between. Those days attending APS meetings felt like arriving at a vibrant oasis after working in relative isolation. What kept me coming back, and the thing that I love most about our organization, is that we come together to look at problems and challenges from very diverse perspectives. We are clinicians and scientists from across broad spectrums of care, and all of us look at this puzzle very differently. That’s what makes us a strong organization and it will help us through the challenging times we now face.

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Young Investigator Application Due February 26

APS will again offer Young Investigator travel support for the 2010 meeting. A limited number of funding awards are available to APS members presenting paper or poster abstracts at the meeting, May 6–8, 2010, in Baltimore, MD. Applicants may be from any research training background (basic or clinical science, psychology, medicine, or biostatistics) and may be at any level in training, including students, residents, predoctoral trainees, postdoctoral fellows, or those who have completed their postdoctoral training within the last 3 years. All applicants must be APS members.

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Clinical and Basic Science Data Blitz Submissions Open

The submissions process for the Clinical and Basic Science Data Blitz is now open. The Blitz will be held on Thursday, May 6, 2010, from 4:15-5:45 pm in Baltimore, MD, as part of the 29th Annual Scientific Meeting. Authors are encouraged to submit “hot topics” for presentation during the Blitz; submissions from young investigators and junior faculty are encouraged. Selected presenters will have 5 minutes to present data and 5 additional minutes for questions. The blitz will be moderated by George Wilcox, PhD, professor of neuroscience and pharmacology at the University of Minnesota.

To submit your work for consideration, please visit the annual meeting section of the APS Web site. All submissions are due March 12, 2010. Primary/presenting authors will be notified of acceptance by the Data Blitz committee in early April. Blitz presenters will be responsible for all costs associated with travel to the annual meeting, including meeting registration. Authors who will be presenting paper or poster abstracts at the annual meeting should not submit their work again for the Data Blitz.

Corporate Satellite Symposia Focus on Cancer Pain, Opioids, and More

Five corporate satellite symposia and one corporate educational program will be offered in conjunction with the APS 29th Annual Scientific Meeting. These independently sponsored, commercially supported symposia are open to all meeting registrants. The programs have been reviewed by the APS Scientific Program Committee and approved after determining the topics to be presented are relevant to the audience and complementary to the official APS program. There is no fee to attend these symposia, but preregistration is required. Seating will be available at no charge to those responding on a first-come, first-served basis. Program details and speakers are subject to change. Please visit www.symposiareg.org/aps for the most current information.

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Call for Applications! IASP Research Symposia

A grant of as much as $40,000 may be awarded to support the costs of a symposium on a specific pain-related topic that is of interest to both basic scientists and clinical researchers. The symposium may be followed by a state-of-the-art volume covering the topic of the meeting. The deadline for applications for 2011 symposia is March 15, 2010.

For complete details about this grant—including guidelines, application forms, and previous recipients—please visit www.iasp-pain.org/Grants.

How to Apply
Please submit your completed fellowship application form by e-mail (as a Word document) to iaspdesk@iasp-pain.org or fax to (206) 283-9403. If you have questions or need assistance, please e-mail iaspdesk@iasp-pain.org or call (206) 283-0311.

The Journal of Pain Highlights

The following highlights summarize selected articles from February 2010 (volume 11, number 2).

The Clinical Importance of Changes in the 0 to 10 Numeric rating Scale for Worst, Least and Average Pain Intensity: Analysis of Data from Clinical Trials of Duloxetine in Pain Disorders
John T. Farrar, Yili L. Pritchett, Michael Robinson, Apurva Prakash and Amy Chappell, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

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Perceiving Pain in Others: Automatic and Controlled Mechanisms
Kenneth D. Craig, Judith Versloot, Liesbet Goubery, Tine Vervoort and Geert Crombez; University of British Columbia, Canada and Ghent University, Belgium

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Clinical Journal of Pain Highlights

The following highlights summarize selected articles from January 2010 (volume 26, issue 1).

Predictors of Disability and Pain Six Months After the End of Treatment for Fibromyalgia
Patricia L. Dobkin^1,2, Aihua Liu^2,4, Michal Abrahamowicz^2,4, Raluca Ionescu-Ittu^2,4, Sasha Bernatsky^1,2, Arielle Goldberger⁵, Murray Brown³

⁽¹⁾ Department of Medicine, McGill University, Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
⁽²⁾ Department of Medicine, McGill University Health Centre, Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
⁽³⁾ Department of Rheumatology, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
⁽⁴⁾ Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
⁽⁵⁾ Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

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Trends in Use of Opioids for Chronic Noncancer Pain Among Individuals With Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders: The TROUP Study
Mark J. Edlund¹, Bradley C. Martin², Andrea Devries³, Ming-Yu Fan⁴,Jennifer Brennan Braden⁴, Mark D. Sullivan⁴

⁽¹⁾ Department of Psychiatry, Division of Health Services Research, College of Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AZ
⁽²⁾ Department of Psychiatry, Division of Pharmaceutical Evaluation and Policy, College of Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AZ
⁽³⁾ HealthCore, Inc., Wilmington, DE
⁽⁴⁾ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

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PAIN Highlights

The following highlights summarize selected articles from January 2010 (volume 148, issue 1).

Psychological Flexibility in Adults with Chronic Pain: A Study of Acceptance, Mindfulness, and Values-Based Action in Primary Care

Lance M. McCracken, Sophie C. Velleman
Centre of Pain Services, Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, and Centre of Pain Research, University of Bath, Bath, UK

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Spinal Cord Stimulation for Failed Back Surgery Syndrome: Outcomes in a Workers’ Compensation Setting
Judith A. Turner¹, William Hollingworth², Bryan A. Comstock³, Richard A. Deyo^4
(1) Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
⁽²⁾ Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
⁽³⁾ Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
⁽⁴⁾ Department of Family Medicine and Department of Internal Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR

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Pain in the News

NSAIDS May Be More Effective Than Paracetamol for Period Pain

Mirror Therapy Prevents Phantom Limb Pains in Patients Undergoing Amputation

Migraines Force Sufferers to Do Their Homework

Pediatric Psychologist Teaches His Young Patients Skills to Cope with Pain, Overcome Fear

U.S. Troops ‘Vulnerable to Back Pain’

Higher Opioid Dose Linked to Overdose Risk in Chronic Pain Patients

Group Urges Recall of Drug for Fibromyalgia

N.J. Medical Marijuana Law Ignores Chronic Pain Sufferers