PainConnect 2025 Reflections

By: Christopher L. Robinson, MD, PhD

PainConnect 2025 Reflections: As I reflect back on the PainConnect 2025 conference hosted by the American Academy of Pain Medicine in Austin, Texas, the recurring theme that keeps on coming up is connection. While our field undergoes growing pains, what will truly keep us together is maintaining that connection. 

Every year we hear of an increasing number of fellowship spots remaining unfilled, and rather than allowing the trend to continue, leaders across the country are coming together to innovate pain fellowship to keep it relevant. When articles were released to further damage our field, everyone responded and came together. This very connection that we have with one another is what will keep pain medicine relevant and here to stay for generations to come. Yes, it may evolve and go through several iterations, but this continued interest in innovating is what will push pain medicine through each trough back up again to its peaks. Despite the turbulence, we ride the waves together.

PainConnect 2025 Reflections on Innovation

This very same innovation is what I had the honor to be involved in at PainConnect 2025 as part of the AAPM + MIT Hacking Medicine Innovation Challenge. There was an overwhelming number of submissions to pitch at the conference, and ultimately, 6 were chosen. Each and every one who presented pitched a novel solution to problems that we constantly face in pain medicine. Though only one could win, each presenting team has the capability of making an outsized difference in our field. So, to those who did not win, never stop pushing forward with innovation because you never know the impact your solution may have on patients’ lives and our field until you see it through. Furthermore, even those earlier in their career got to participate in the AAPM + MIT Hacking Medicine Innovation Challenge competition, delivering brilliant ideas. So, when people say, Pain Medicine has had its better days, I say, The better days are to come, and we will all play our parts to make this future come to fruition.

AAPM Foundation Travel Grant 

I am grateful to the American Academy of Pain Medicine Foundation for making my trip possible for selecting me for their fellows travel award, along with my fellow physician-scientist, Elizabeth Leimer, MD, PhD. Though it was only a few days, the connections that I made at PainConnect will last far beyond those days. Those connections will become friends, family, collaborators, and business partners, and it was all built on a shared interest to see us all rise together. Thank you for making these connections happen and investing in the future of us all.

So now, as I consider my PainConnect 2025 reflections, my thoughts are now about what we will see this year in our field because of all those connections. I recall that at one point, after the conference, while we were exploring Austin, I made a joke that I had to stop asking science-type questions, because then I would never stop. We all started laughing.

Although it was meant to be humorous, the people I was surrounded by nurtured that curiosity and participated in discussions, and as a result, we initiated some new projects. Who said science can’t be fun when you are line-dancing, talking about nerd stuff? It was truly exceptional to be amongst a group of people who were excited to push the field forward, who were supportive of each other’s successes, and a group of people who I consider my friends and family.

The future of pain medicine is through the connections that we make and maintain, and at PainConnect 2025, I can surely say I made connections that will last a lifetime. Thank you again to all the organizers for hosting an incredible conference that brought us all together, and we will keep it together as we look forward to the next conference, where more of us will connect. 

About Christopher L. Robinson, MD, PhD

Dr. Robinson is a physician-scientist with a dual background in medicine and neurobiology. A PainConnect 2025 Travel Grant recipient, Dr. Robinson is committed to advancing innovative, evidence-based strategies in pain management. His work bridges clinical care and research, with a focus on improving outcomes for patients with complex pain conditions. He is currently a physician-scientist/Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Robinson attended PainConnect 2025 as a fellow.