Previous Meetings
June 16, 2026
Past Lessons, Present Innovation, Future Precision: Advancing Pain Science for the Health of Our Nation
Past Lessons, Present Innovation, Future Precision: Advancing Pain Science for the Health of Our Nation
From past lessons to future breakthroughs, this webinar explores how pain science is evolving into a precision & technology-driven field. Learn how advances in the biopsychosocial framework, emerging technologies, and translational research are enabling more tailored approaches to pain care, while also addressing critical challenges along the way.
Amber K. Brooks, MD, MS, is a Professor of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine (WFUSM), specializing in the treatment of complex pain conditions through a multimodal, patient-centered approach. She is widely recognized for her contributions to clinical care, research, and healthcare executive leadership. Her research focuses on leveraging digital solutions to deliver non-pharmacologic interventions for older adults with chronic pain, supported by the National Institute on Aging, and on training the next generation of clinicians and researchers at the intersection of data science and addiction medicine, supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Previously, Dr. Brooks served as the WFUSM Vice Dean for Strategic Initiatives, where she helped guide the School of Medicine through federal policy changes and advanced enterprise-wide initiatives in Planetary Health, Community Engagement, Artificial Intelligence and Research, Innovation, and Translational Neuroscience. She currently serves as the inaugural Vice Dean for Institutional Learning and Transformation at WFUSM and Vice Chief Academic Officer for Advocate Health. In this role, she provides strategic oversight of CAPTURE (the Centralized Analytic Platform for Performance, Transparency, and Utilization in Real-time for Excellence), the School of Medicine’s integrated data dashboard, designed to deliver measurable, transparent, and scalable indicators of performance across education, research, and academically integrated clinical care.
Demario S. Overstreet, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Heersink School of Medicine, where he directs the Overstreet Pain Lab. Dr. Overstreet studies perioperative pain, with an emphasis on understanding the transition from acute to chronic postsurgical pain through a biopsychosocial, mechanistic framework. His research integrates quantitative sensory testing, inflammatory biomarkers, psychosocial factors, and social determinants of health to advance precision pain medicine in surgical populations. His work is supported by an NIH NIGMS R35 MIRA Award, which funds a multi-cohort research program examining the biological and clinical underpinnings of postoperative pain across diverse surgical contexts. Dr. Overstreet is committed to training the next generation of clinicians and scientists in patient-oriented and translational research. Through his R35-supported research program, he mentors trainees at multiple levels, including PhD and medical students, postdoctoral fellows, and early-career faculty. He serves as an Associate Scientist with multiple centers, including the UAB Center for Clinical and Translational Science and the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, and collaborates across disciplines to integrate mechanistic pain science into clinical care, with the goal of improving patient outcomes and advancing precision pain management
March 23, 2026
2026 USASP Annual Scientific Meeting
November 13, 2025
Celebrating 50 Years of PAIN: From where pain research has come from to where it is headed
Join us for a special 5th anniversary webinar featuring Karen D. Davis, Ph.D., FCAHS, FRSC, Editor-in-Chief of PAIN. In this event, Dr. Davis will reflect on five decades of progress in pain science, from the foundational discoveries that shaped the field to the innovations driving the future of pain research.
Karen Davis is the Canada Research Chair in Acute and Chronic Pain Research. She is a Senior Scientist and Division Head at the Krembil Brain Institute of the University Health Network and is a full Professor in the Department of Surgery and Institute of Medical Science at the University of Toronto. Dr. Davis obtained her PhD in Physiology at the University of Toronto (supervised by Jonathan Dostrovsky) and then did a post-doctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins University (supervised by Jim Campbell, Srinivasa Raja, and Dick Meyer) and returned to the University of Toronto to conduct intra-operative electrophysiological recordings with Ron Tasker and Jonathan Dostrovsky. She then focused on MRI and MEG-based research and was at the forefront of the development of neuroimaging as it emerged in the 1990s. Dr. Davis has pioneered electrophysiological and brain imaging approaches to investigate mechanisms underlying acute and chronic pain, brain plasticity, and individual factors that contribute to pain sensitivity and chronic pain treatment outcomes. Her concept of a “dynamic pain connectome” is being used to understand mechanisms of pain and analgesia and identify neuromarkers to develop personalized approaches to pain management. She has published 220+ peer-reviewed papers with over 32,000 citations and an H-index of 95. Dr. Davis is also active in neuroethics and EDI (equity, diversity, and inclusion) initiatives. and co-edited the book Pain Neuroethics and Bioethics. She was a Mayday Fellow, was inducted into the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars, Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, and the Royal Society of Canada, served as President of the Canadian Pain Society and as a councillor of the International Association for the Study of Pain. Dr. Davis is currently the Editor-in-Chief of PAIN, the flagship journal of the IASP.
This webinar, held on Friday, June 6, from 12–1:30pm ET, addressed the urgent need for pain researchers to understand what was at stake for NIH-funded pain research and how to take meaningful action. With significant budget cuts under consideration, it was a critical moment for the pain research community to mobilize. The session covered the federal budget process, current threats to pain research funding, and actionable steps—from meeting with congressional staff to crafting compelling messages—to protect and advocate for this essential science. Designed for both newcomers and experienced advocates, the webinar provided tools and insights to support effective engagement.
April 30, 2025
2025 USASP Annual Scientific Meeting
April 2, 2025
Iteration, refinement, and optimization: The value in preparation ahead of an efficacy trial.
It can be tempting to move rapidly through the developmental stages of intervention development to begin asking efficacy questions. But early activities—piloting intervention strategies and study logistics, gathering information about feasibility and acceptability, and gathering feedback and making iterative refinements—produce highly valuable information for the scientific community and are critical for efficiently constructing an intervention that is effective and valued by its target audience. Dr. Fanning will discuss several frameworks that guide the iterative refinement and optimization of health behavior interventions, illustrated using his own experiences in user-centered design and iterative refinement.
Becoming a productive scientific writer is critical to a successful career as a pain scientist.Yet, many of us find it difficult to develop and/or sustain this skill. A key tenet of this Webinar is that scientific writing is a habit that can be learned just like any other habit. In this webinar, pain scientists who are at varied career stages will share strategies that they have used to be successful in nurturing their writing. The presenters will discuss lessons learned, highlighting both challenges to writing (e.g. work/life demands) and ways to address these challenges and create a regular writing habit.
January 29, 2025
Confronting the Complexity of Pain and Opioid Use Disorder: Novel and Emerging Treatments
This 1-hour webinar on Wednesday, January 29th (12 pm EST) explored current directions in the treatment of Pain and Opioid Use Disorder.
Dr. MacLean will present on innovative and emerging approaches for chronic pain and addiction treatment with a focus on flexible treatment options that increase access and engagement in evidence-based care. Dr. Garland will discuss the outcomes and biobehavioral mechanisms of Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE), an evidence-based intervention for chronic pain, opioid misuse, and opioid use disorder. Registrants are encouraged to submit questions for the speakers before the webinar to ensure they are answered during the discussion.
Join us for an informative session on fMRI methods and using pain & sensory stimulation in the MRI scanner environment. This town hall will feature presentations from leading experts, who will share practical knowledge that you can apply in your research. Dr. Daniel Harper (Emory) will share insights on QST Labs and Medoc equipment with a focus on the specific equipment models needed and how to set it up and optimal use in the scanner environment; Drs. Dario Pfyffer and Merve Kaptan (Stanford University) will discuss other modalities in the scanner environment, such as fully automated cold pressor, TS, and mechanical pressure pain; Dr. Arvina Grahl (Harvard University) will share insights on how to assess responses to pain stimuli using pressure cuffs in a scanner. Dr. Massieh Moayedi (University of Toronto) is an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Pain NeuroImaging. He has published extensively in pain neuroimaging, using multiple stimulation devices and brain imaging modalities.
October 29, 2024
Weaving pain research into the clinic: Opportunities and challenges in getting started
Link to include for members to access the recording: https://usasp.memberclicks.net/video--weaving-pain-research-into-the-clinic
The purpose of this webinar is to provide audience members with “behind the scenes” information about NIH grant review. It will include an overview of the personnel and steps involved in grant review, insights into factors that are/are not in the applicant’s control, general perspectives on what has made applicants successful in the past, and thoughts on unexpected aspects of NIH grant review.
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