The USASP People with Lived Experience (PWLE) Engagement Committee launched a new Community of Practice that focuses on:
providing peer support
state-of-the-science recommendations
discussion groups
and other activities and resources to help those interested in community- and PWLE-engaged research.
The first Community of Practice meeting was held at the 2026 USASP Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, PA, and there has been a follow-up webinar that took place on June 22, 2026. An infographic summarizing that meeting is in the green button.
If you would like to learn more, please see the "What is the PWLE CoP?" infographic by clicking the purple button, reach out to admin@usasp.org, and/or sign-up here!
USASP is committed to supporting better partnerships between researchers and PWLE/communities. Putting this commitment into action, we launched a fundraising campaign called "The Art of Partnership."
The "Art of Partnership" is the idea that beautiful progress happens when we bring together different people, perspectives, and lived experiences to collaborate on pain research.
Like painting a piece of art, meaningful pain research is shaped by many different colors, layers, and dimensions. Research perspectives bring academic knowledge about pain. Clinical perspectives add insights about caring for people living with pain. Lived experience perspectives offer expertise on the realities of living with pain. Each adds something distinct to the canvas of pain research. When brought together as equal partners, they can create a fuller, richer picture of pain. This leads to research that is more meaningful, inclusive, and responsive to the people it is meant to serve.
This month, we are putting that belief into action by launching a campaign to build a seed fund that will help create more opportunities for USASP researchers and people with lived experience to build relationships, learn from one another, and shape research together. This campaign will run up until a gala on March 18 at the 2027 USASP Annual Scientific Meeting in Denver, CO. We hope you will contribute, either by donating (every small amount helps!) and/or by joining us in person at our Annual Meeting!
