The Pain Beat

Welcome to the inaugural episode of The Pain Beat, The IASP Pain Research Forum's new monthly podcast series! Supported by a generous grant from The MAYDAY Fund, The Pain Beat brings together the world’s leading pain investigators in order to spark dialogue and debate around important ideas in pain research. Guided by Rebecca Seal, Scientific Director of The Pain Beat, these podcasts feature open and spirited discussion about the hottest topics in pain and how the field moves forward from here.

For the first episode, The Pain Beat gathered together a group of pain researchers in Keystone, Colorado, US, where two joint Keystone Symposia, Somatosensation: From Detection to Perception and Pain: Aligning the Target, were being held from February 2-5, 2020. The podcast participants include:

• Alexander Chesler, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, US
• Ardem Patapoutian, Scripps Research, La Jolla, US
• Sarah Ross, University of Pittsburgh, US
• Cheryl Stucky, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, US
• Stephani Sutherland, PRF freelancer (moderator)

The group found a quiet spot away from the hubbub of the meeting to discuss the following question: What biological levels should be targeted to produce the most effective pain therapies: molecules, cells, circuits, or systems?

For the fifth episode, The Pain Beat gathered together a group of pain researchers virtually to discuss how the mammalian nervous system encodes sensory modalities related to touch, pain and temperature. Are there labeled lines? Is there population coding? Do the mechanisms differ by location – the brain, spinal cord or periphery?

Podcast participants include: Diana Bautista, PhD, UC Berkeley, US; Nicholas Betley, PhD, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, US; Adam Hantman, PhD, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Janelia Research Campus, Ashburn, Virginia, US; Mark Hoon, PhD, National Institutes of Health (NIH), NIDCR, Bethesda, US; Taylor Sheahan, PhD, University of Pittsburgh, US (moderator)

A group of pain researchers gather to discuss ideas and issues related to the transition from acute to chronic pain.

For its ninth episode, The Pain Beat brought together experts in how pain is measured clinically and experimentally. This multidisciplinary group discussed what is the difference between pain and nociception, why organisms experience pain and whether pain can be objectively measured since it is a subjective experience. Additionally, the group explored why researchers have relied on the measurement of nociception for so long and offer paths forward for the research community including a discussion of new technologies.

Podcast participants include:

• Ishmail Abdus-Saboor, PhD, Columbia University, US
• Carl Saab, PhD, Case Western University, US
• Vivianne Tawfik, MD, PhD, Stanford University, US
• Mark Zylka, PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, US
• Tayler Sheahan, PhD, University of Pittsburgh, US (Moderator)

For its eighth episode, The Pain Beat gathered together a group of pain researchers with expertise in the study of sex differences in pain. The group discussed their own discoveries of sex differences in pain in the course of their research, why pain investigators should pay attention to sex differences and how they should go about examining them, and much more.

Podcast participants include:

• Gregory Dussor, PhD, University of Texas at Dallas, US
• Jeffrey Mogil, PhD, McGill University, Montreal, US
• Anne Murphy, PhD, Georgia State University, Atlanta, US
• Kate Sadler, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, US (moderator)