Speaker Information
Keynote: Conflict Related Post amputation Pain - A Long View
9:25 - 10:25 AM
Dr. Andrew Rice
Dr. Andrew Rice is a clinical academic who for more than 35 years has been intrigued by the conundrum of neuropathic pain. He is Professor of Pain Research at Imperial College, London, UK. At Imperial, he leads an interdisciplinary research group interested in elucidating neuropathic pain in the context of infectious disease (HIV, Herpes Zoster, HTLV-1 and leprosy), diabetic neuropathy and limb amputation. His current research activity embraces a variety of pre-clinical and clinical facets –enabling preclinical evidence synthesis and enhancing methodological rigour, through “deep phenotyping” of patients with a view to enabling precision medicine and understanding risk factors and on to clinical trials and evidence synthesis.
Panel 1 - Neuropathic Pain
10:45 - 11:30 AM
Dr. Dwight Moulin
Dwight Moulin is Professor in the Depts of Clinical Neurological Sciences and Oncology at Western University. He is also the former Earl Russell Chair of the Western Pain Program (2005-2020). He has published extensively on the role of opioid analgesics in the management of chronic pain and recently has led a series of observational studies on the long term outcome of the management of neuropathic pain. He has also done studies on medical cannabis for pain management. He chaired the Neuropathic Pain Special Interest Group of the Canadian Pain Society from 2005-2014 and led the Consensus Statement on the Pharmacological Management of Chronic Neuropathic Pain – initially published in 2007 and updated in 2014. He is a recipient of the Distinguished Career Award from the Canadian Pain Society and he is also a Founding Member of Pain Medicine as a new subspecialty of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
Dr. Annemarie Dedek
Dr. Annemarie Dedek completed her PhD in neuroscience at Carleton University. She then undertook a Mitacs-funded postdoctoral fellowship at Carleton University and The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, in collaboration with Eli Lilly, under the mentorship of Drs. Mike Hildebrand and Eve Tsai. Following this, she completed a second postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Christine Chambers at Dalhousie University. Annemarie is now an Assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. Her research integrates rodent and translational preclinical models to advance the understanding of pain physiology.
Thematic Talks
11:30 - 12:00 PM
Optimizing Children’s Pain Management in the Acute Care Setting
Dr. Naveen Poonai
Dr. Naveen Poonai completed his Doctor of Medicine at the University of Toronto in 2004 and his paediatric residency and emergency medicine fellowship training at Western University in 2009. He obtained his Master of Science in Health Research Methodology from McMaster University in 2013. Dr. Poonai is a professor in the Departments of Paediatrics and Epidemiology & Biostatistics at Western University. He is the Chair of the Children’s Health & Therapeutics Division of the Children’s Health Research Institute and Western University’s Health Sciences Research Ethics Board. On a national level, he is a Decision Editor for the Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine and the Vice-Chair of Pediatric Emergency Research Canada (PERC).
His research interests include procedural sedation and management of acute pain in children. To this end, he has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles. Recognitions include the Faculty Scholar Award from Western University in 2024, the Provincial Innovation Award from the Academic Medical Organization of Southwestern Ontario in 2022, the Scientist of Year Award from the Children’s Health Research Institute in 2022, and the Terry Klassen Young Investigator Award from Paediatric Emergency Research Canada (PERC) in 2019.
Advancing Critical Social Science in Chronic Pain Research: An Overview of the Partnership for the Engagement of People in Pain Research (PEPR)
Dr. Laura Connoy
Dr. Laura Connoy is a critical qualitative sociologist who researches chronic pain within contexts of marginalization. She is a Postdoctoral Associate and Research Manager for PEPR—standing for Partnership for the Engagement of People in Pain Research, based at Western University.
Panel 2 - Psychedelics in Pain
1:10 - 1:55 PM
Dr. Collin Clarke
Dr. Collin Clarke is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine at Western University.
Following the completion of his anesthesia residency at Western University, Dr. Clarke completed an Interventional Pain Management Fellowship at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina. During his fellowship, he focused primarily on the management of Complex Regional Pain as well as fluoroscopically guided interventions for the management of spinal mediated pain syndromes.
Currently he operates a pain clinic out of St. Joseph's hospital that involves both pharmacotherapy as well as a variety of interventions for treatment and management of a variety of pain syndromes. Additionally, Dr. Clarke provides anesthesia services at the London Health Sciences Center.
His research interests focus on functional imaging for the interpretation of pain pathways.
Dr. Joel Gagnier
Joel J Gagnier is a Clinical Epidemiologist and Associate Professor in the Departments of Epidemiology and Biostats and in the Department of Surgery, Schulich Medicine & Dentistry. Dr Gagnier’s research program focuses on clinical and methodological research related to musculoskeletal conditions and clinical care. Dr. Gagnier earned a bachelors degree in psychology and another bachelor’s in philosophy and religious studies in 1996. He then entered a private medical school, the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, and earned an ND degree after which he opened a private practice which he ran successfully until 2010. In 2005 he completed an MSc in Clinical Epidemiology and Health-Care research at the University of Toronto and in 2010 he completed a PhD in medical sciences with a concentration in Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the University of Toronto, both under the supervision of Dr. Claire Bomabrdier. He was awarded Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) fellowships during his MSc and PhD.
Dr Gagnier is a member of the CONSORT Group, the Cochrane Collaboration Musculoskeletal Group, Back Review Group, Bias Methods Group, an editor and editorial board member of several peer-reviewed scientific journals, and a board member of several research societies. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers, several book chapters and given over 200 lectures and workshops at local, national and international scientific meetings.
Dr. Jibran Khokhar
Dr. Khokhar completed his undergraduate training at Queen’s University, and his Ph.D. in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Toronto and CAMH, under the supervision of Dr. Rachel Tyndale. He then completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry at Dartmouth College with Dr. Alan Green. Dr. Khokhar held a CIHR Post-doctoral Fellowship as well as NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Dr. Khokhar was recently hired as an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Translational Neuropsychopharmacology in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the Schulich School of Medicine at Western University.
Since starting his independent research group, the lab has published 55 papers and received nearly $6 million in funding from federal and industry sources. Dr. Khokhar’s research revolves around establishing the behavioural and neural correlates of various types of vulnerabilities to substance use starting from genetic risk, to vaping in adolescence and the interaction between substance use and commonly co-occurring conditions (e.g., psychopathology, pain). He is also very interested in exploring the effects of these and novel substance (e.g., psychedelics) on pain-related behaviours.
Postdoc Data Blitz
1:55 - 2:30 PM
How Low Back Pain is Managed-A Mixed-Methods Study in 32 Countries. Part 2 of Low Back Pain in Low- and Middle-Income Countries Series
Dr. Mulugeta Bayisa Chala
Mulugeta Bayisa Chala is a Research Associate and CIHR-REDI Fellow at Lawson Research Institute / St. Joseph’s Health Care London in Canada. His research project focuses on exploring integrated models of care for people with chronic musculoskeletal disorders in Southwestern Ontario Canada. He uses a learning health system approach to understand, innovate, implement, and evaluate models of care to address the healthcare needs of people with musculoskeletal conditions in developed and low- and middle-income country settings.
Mulugeta received his PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences from Queen’s University in Canada (Sept 2021). His thesis focused on building foundations for chronic low back pain self-management interventions in the Ethiopian context. He also pursued an Ontario Health Team (OHT) Impact-postdoctoral fellowship at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto in Canada (Sept 2021-March 2023) prior to his current role. As an embedded OHT impact fellow, he supported Evaluation Capacity-Building initiatives at the Middlesex London Ontario Health Team in London, Ontario, Canada.
Mulugeta is a physiotherapist by training with over 16 years of teaching, clinical, and research experience in Ethiopia. He was also a former faculty member at the Department of Physiotherapy at the University of Gondar in Ethiopia. He currently holds an adjunct Assistant Professor position at the Department of Physiotherapy - Bahir Dar University in Ethiopia.
The Role of the Claustrum in Pain Processing
Dr. Chun Yin Liu
Dr. Chun Yin Liu is a postdoctoral researcher at Western University, specializing in the study of brain circuits underlying pain processing. With a background in language neuroscience and literacy during his PhD study, Chun Yin is interested in the interaction between pain and high cognitive functions. Adopting human functional MRI as the major research methodology, Chun Yin works extensively with functional and effective connectivity using 3T and 7T MRI. Currently, his research focuses on the role of the human claustrum in cognitive control and pain perception, employing high-resolution neuroimaging and deep-phenotyping methods.
Exploring the Preoperative Experiences of Patients in a Disruptive Recovery Trajectory Following Lumbar Spinal Fusion Surgery: A Secondary Analysis of a Qualitative Study
Sima Vatandoost
Sima Vatandoost is a third-year Ph.D. student in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences: Physical Therapy. Her research interest is low back pain and outcome measurement, specifically in total hip arthroplasty population. Sima’s PhD will investigate the associations between physical measures and patient-reported outcomes measures before total hip arthroplasty and explore the experiences of patients with both low back pain and hip osteoarthritis following total hip arthroplasty. The results of this research will contribute to optimizing outcomes and improving assessment and treatment plans in individuals who have low back pain and are having a total hip arthroplasty.
Dissociable Effects of Pain in Working Memory: The Role of Attentional Priority
Dr. Phivos Phylactou
Phivos is a cognitive neuroscientist interested in the nexus between cognition and pain. In 2019, he graduated as the valedictorian with a BSc in Psychology from Frederick University, Cyprus and received his PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences from the Cyprus University of Technology in 2023. Despite the early stage of his career, his research has attracted more than half a million dollars of funding through various awards, including a Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellowship.
Validating Mechanisms of Migraine: an EEG and fMRI Study
Dr. Merna Seliman
Dr. Merna Seliman completed her PhD in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at Western University. Her doctoral work focused on exploring the sexual lived experiences and recommendations for interventions among women with Spinal Cord Injuries using Participatory action research. She is interested in women’s health as well as developing and implementing interventions to enhance sexual satisfaction and alleviate co-morbid pain among women with neurological conditions and other women who experience chronic pain. She took part in multiple research projects at Parkwood Institute as a member of the R2P (research to practice) team that is dedicated to bringing together participatory approaches, practice-based research, and implementation science to ensure research findings are applied and integrated into clinical practice. As such, she worked on various quality improvement initiatives and supported the implementation of sexual health practice in SCI, ABI, and Stroke rehabilitation at Parkwood Institute since 2019. She also worked as a qualitative research associate at King’s University college as part of an interdisciplinary team exploring the experience of moral injury among Canadian police officers and firefighters.
Dr. Seliman is especially enthusiastic about connecting and collaborating with various stakeholders to achieve the objectives of research as well as knowledge translation and writing about research for lay audiences. Other research interests include emotional and psychological well-being in various populations as well as interventions to promote well-being such as mindfulness-based interventions.
Thematic Talks
3:00 - 3:45 PM
Synovial Tissue Damage and Pain in Knee Arthritis
Dr. Tom Appleton
Dr. Tom Appleton is Head of the Division of Rheumatology and clinician scientist in the Department of Medicine with a cross-appointment to the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at Western. He is a rheumatologist with research focused on the role of synovium in the onset and progression of osteoarthritis, with expertise in innate immune inflammation, synovitis, ultrasound imaging, bioinformatics and single cell technologies, and tissue histopathology. He is investigating the mechanisms of osteoarthritis disease development and progression to identify new therapeutic targets for disease modifying osteoarthritis therapies
Racial/Ethnic Patterns in Chronic Pain Among US and Canadian Adults
Dr. Anna Zajacova
Anna Zajacova is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Western Ontario. Her research examines chronic pain, focusing on its social determinants and consequences, and disparities among Canadian and U.S. adults. Since earning a PhD in Demography and Sociology from Princeton University, she has published over 90 studies in leading journals such as PAIN, The Journal of Pain, and Demography. Her work, funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, explores how pain fits into broader population health patterns.
Optimizing Interventional Pain Management
Dr. Eldon Loh
Dr. Eldon Loh (MD, FRCPC) is Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Earl Russell Chair in Pain Management, at Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University. Dr. Loh is also an Associate Scientist at the Lawson Health Research Institute and medical director of the Parkwood Rehabilitation Clinical Research Unit (PRCRU). He is chair of the panel that developed the Canadian Best Practice Guidelines for Neuropathic Pain after spinal cord injury (the CanPainSCI guidelines), and also chairs the PVA Pain guideline development group. He is also former chair of the research division of the Canadian Association of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (CAPMR). His research focuses on interventional pain techniques, including the evaluation of novel devices/therapies (e.g. multitined electrodes, PRP) and improving existing techniques, particularly through the use of anatomical models.