Five physios to speak at World Congress on Pain in Toronto, with more than 7,000 delegates expected
At least five physiotherapists are lined up to speak at the prestigious World Congress on Pain next week – said to be is the largest global gathering of pain professionals – taking place in Toronto, Canada, from 19-23 September.
More than 7,000 scientists, clinicians, and healthcare providers will attend the 19th World Congress on Pain, which is organised by the USA-based International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP).
The event takes place in the second half of 2022, which the IASP has designated as being the ‘Global Year for Translating Pain Knowledge to Practice’. The association wants to raise awareness among clinicians, scientists and the public about the growing body of knowledge in the field, and to show how this can benefit those living with pain.
Michele Sterling
One the speakers at the congress's third day is Michele Sterling, a musculoskeletal (MSK) physiotherapist who graduated at the University of Queensland in Australia, before going on to obtain a Masters, a PhD and a professorship.
Based at the university’s Recover Injury Research Centre, Professor Sterling leads the Designing Better Therapies research programme. She is also director of the National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) Centre of Research Excellence in Road Traffic Injury Recovery.
In her session on 21 September, Professor Sterling will examine the rationale for using a range of non-pharmacological interventions that can help to prevent chronic pain developing among people who have experienced acute tissue injuries.
Kathleen Sluka
Kathleen Sluka, a professor in the department of physical therapy and rehabilitation science at the University of Iowa, is also an active member of IASP and the American Physical Therapy Association.
She is taking part in a workshop titled ‘Translating Basic Models of Muscle Pain: A focus on sex differences’ on 20 September, in which she will present recent work on the role of sex hormones in exercise-induced pain and exercise-induced analgesia.
Professor Sluka will highlight the differences in the development of chronic widespread pain in animal models and show how testosterone and the activation of androgen receptors can protect against the development of chronic pain. She will also focus on the underlying sex-specific mechanisms in the central nervous system.
Delegates will also find out how resistance training exercise – but not aerobic exercise – increases testosterone to produce analgesia through the activation of androgen receptors.
In another session, to be held on 23 September, Professor Sluka will look at the key muscle immune neurological interactions that lead to hyperalgesia in response to acute bouts of physical activity and those that lead to analgesia. She will be referring to a ‘mouse model’ of widespread MSK pain.
The 2022 Congress provides many lectures, courses, workshops and various meetings and networking opportunities highlighted by 14 outstanding plenary lectures, 70 cutting edge – and sometimes controversial – topical workshops, and 20 up-to-date refresher courses and innovative hands-on workshops [Ian Gilron, committee chair, scientific programme]
Paul Hodges
Paul Hodges, who is billed as being a ‘neuroscientist and physiotherapist with interest in MSK pain mechanisms and rehabilitation’, will present a talk on 22 September titled ‘Can Nociceptive, Neuropathic or Nociplastic Phenotypes be Identified in Musculoskeletal Pain?’
Professor Hodges is based at the University of Queensland’s NHMRC Centre of Clinical Research Excellence in Spinal Pain, Injury and Health at the school of health and rehabilitation science.
Helen Slater
Another Australia-based speaker is Helen Slater, a professor (MSK pain) from the enAble Institute at Curtin University in Perth. In a presentation on 22 September, Professor Slater will discuss how a ‘partnership approach’ will improve the training given to health professionals in Australia.
Delegates will hear about the 'Listen to me, learn from me' framework, which Professor Slater helped to develop. For more information, visit: https://journals.lww.com/pain/Fulltext/9900/_Listen_to_me,_learn_from_me___a_priority_setting.45.aspx
Professor Slater will give another presentation on 20 September, titled: ‘Leveraging Lived Experience to Support System-wide Reform in Paediatric Pain’.
Giulia Mesaroli
Elsewhere, physiotherapist Giulia Mesaroli, from the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, is also named on the speakers’ list.
To find out more about the event, visit: https://iaspworldcongress2022.org
To read about a PhysioUpdate article on how Fife-based physiotherapist Paul Cameron helped to promote the IASP’s Global Year About Back Pain in 2021, visit: https://www.physioupdate.co.uk/news/pain-physio-paul-cameron-helps-lead-global-bid-to-improve-treatment-and-management-options----/
Author: Ian A McMillan
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