Education Intertwined with Innovation at PainConnect
Education is intertwined with innovation at PainConnect, featuring everything from NOPs and MOPs to hot tub therapy and AI.
Education Intertwined with Innovation is Everywhere
Innovation was everywhere at PainConnect 2025. There are presentations and exhibit booths describing new medications for pain, novel drug targets, innovative approaches to investigate and treat pain pathology, and improved tools for clinicians to care for patients based on patient-reported outcomes. The keynote talks by Peter Goadsby, MD, PhD, MBBS, and Stephen Waxman, MD, PhD, provide context for these innovations by telling the story of how far we have come, all the ups and downs along the way that have led to advances in treatments for migraine and neuropathic pain, and the research that is still being done. Talks like these are especially important because they help empower us to offer more perspective and hope when a patient in the clinic asks, “Do you know anything about what new treatments are coming? Is there anything coming that could help me? I’ve tried everything.”
Presentations from multidisciplinary research labs and industry companies focus on novel target discovery and drug development, providing tangible examples for patients with chronic pain that demonstrate the ongoing efforts of the medical and research communities to advance treatment. Examples of this include pharmaceutical strategies around sodium channel specificity described by Jon Sack, PhD, and dual-nociceptin/orphanin FQ peptide (NOP) receptor and µ-opioid peptide (MOP) receptor (dual-NMR) agonism presented by Tris Pharma to achieve pain relief comparable to opioid analgesics while minimizing the risk of significant side effects, dependence, and addiction.
Fundamentals of Pain Medicine Workshop
It is hard to untangle education from innovation at PainConnect 2025, as they are so intertwined. The Fundamentals of Pain Medicine Workshop provides high-yield learning punctuated by memorable presentations and anecdotes. I will remember to check a nortriptyline level thanks to a great lecture by Traci Speed, MD, PhD, about Psychotropics in Pain Medicine. I will consider recommending heat therapy via hot tub to patients with fibromyalgia due to a striking presentation by Andrea Chadwick, MD, MSc, FASA, where patients showed improved pain severity, improved function, and improved sleep after a 4-week heat therapy protocol. I will strive to incorporate more aspects of the multidisciplinary chronic pelvic pain clinic described by Charles Argoff, MD, Elise De, MD, and Beth Shelly, DPT, who discussed neurologic, gynecologic, and urologic considerations of chronic pelvic pain and goals of pelvic physical therapy. Specialty multidisciplinary clinics such as this highlight the importance of understanding challenges faced by the patient as well as considering the patient’s goals for treatment.
Patients are at the Center of PainConnect
Patient goals and the importance of the patient experience are further highlighted in a discussion about The Disaster of Ignoring Harm Reduction in Opioid Policy by Maia Szalavitz, a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times. She notes that even as opioid prescriptions have decreased, overdose deaths have continued to increase, and advocates for harm reduction around opioid use. Harm reduction “meets people where they are” and recognizes that people who use drugs have the right to life and health. Innovation in the areas of the patient experience, predicting which treatments may be helpful for the patient, and creating improved tools for clinicians may contribute to future harm reduction strategies.
AAPM + MIT Hacking Medicine Innovation Challenge
In an engaging and exciting session, the AAPM + MIT Hacking Medicine Innovation Challenge finalists presented their groundbreaking solutions in these areas in a “Shark Tank” style pitch competition. These solutions included prone virtual reality for a better patient experience, an artificial-intelligence program to help determine a treatment plan to support the primary care physician treating chronic pain, a non-opioid medication, and adaptations to improve the technology associated with spinal cord stimulation. Multidisciplinary teams of undergraduate students also pitched the final product of their intensive practical education and innovation experience developed during the inaugural Hacking Medicine Hack-a-thon. Every presentation described an advancement that was motivated by improving the patient experience or the ability of clinicians to better care for patients with chronic pain. It is very inspiring to see clinicians and members of AAPM actively innovating in the Pain Medicine space.
Innovation is Showcased at PainConnect
Education intertwined with innovation showcased at PainConnect 2025 is underscored by a common theme: improving the quality of life for patients with chronic pain through multidisciplinary collaboration. Conferences such as this encourage discussions, novel ideas, and new collaborations, and shape the future of patient care in Pain Medicine. I would like to thank the American Academy of Pain Medicine for a great conference, and I am so honored to have received an AAPM Foundation Fellow Travel Grant. This award has also enabled me to reconnect with former colleagues and establish new connections that will inform my clinical practice and guide my future research endeavors. I feel right at home at AAPM and feel energized to continue learning, collaborating, and innovating.
