Exploring Innovation, Insight, and Impact at PainConnect
By: Paroma Arefin, PhD Student
Exploring innovation, insight, and impact at PainConnect 2025: A Graduate Student’s Experience.
Exploring PainConnect
Exploring innovation at PainConnect 2025, the AAPM annual meeting, as a recipient of the AAPM Foundation Travel Grant was an incredible opportunity, one that I’ll carry with me throughout my academic and professional journey. As a graduate student at the department of Pharmaceutical Health Outcome and Policy Research, College of Pharmacy, University of Houston, where I’m currently conducting research on quality of life and healthcare expenditure disparities among elderly patients with joint and arthritis pain under the guidance of Professor Dr Sujit S. Sansgiry, this meeting offered a wealth of insights and valuable exposure that perfectly complemented my academic goals.
PainConnect brought together an extraordinary group of researchers, clinicians, health economists, and students from across the nation. I was particularly impressed by the diversity of projects presented—ranging from cutting-edge interventional pain procedures to policy-focused research on opioid use, electronic health record (EHR)-based analyses, and health economics and outcomes research (HEOR). It was fascinating to see how interdisciplinary the field has become and how it’s evolving to meet both clinical and systemic challenges in pain management.
Exploring Innovation
One of the most striking takeaways for me was the increasing personalization and evidence-based nature of pain interventions. Presentations on neuromodulation techniques, non-opioid pharmacological therapies, and emerging interventional approaches provided me with a deeper understanding of how modern medicine is shifting away from generalized treatment strategies and embracing targeted, data-driven care. I was particularly intrigued by a project that detailed a categorized drug list based on pain type—chronic, neuropathic, and acute—which demonstrated how pharmacological treatment plans can be optimized based on precision classifications. This approach resonated deeply with my own interests in stratified health outcomes across patient populations.
As someone whose research centers around racial and ethnic disparities in quality of life and healthcare utilization, it was encouraging to see multiple presentations examining pain care equity. I attended a few sessions that addressed the impact of socioeconomic status and race on treatment access, pain reporting, and long-term outcomes. These discussions were not only relevant but also motivating, as they validated the importance of the questions I’m exploring in my own work.
Additionally, the use of EHR data for large-scale retrospective analyses caught my attention. Several presenters used real-world data to examine opioid prescribing patterns, pain-related emergency visits, and the cost-effectiveness of various treatments. These methods are highly aligned with the type of quantitative work I do and offered me new ideas for modeling, data sources, and variable construction. I even had the chance to connect with a few researchers working on similar themes—conversations I hope will evolve into future collaborations.
Exploring Impact
Another highlight of my experience was the sense of community and mentorship PainConnect fostered. I had the pleasure of meeting peers and professionals whose work I’ve read and admired. The openness with which they shared insights, career advice, and feedback was truly heartening. I walked away feeling more confident in my path and more inspired to continue contributing to the field.
The AAPM Foundation Travel Grant played a crucial role in making this experience possible. From travel to accommodations, the grant ensured that I could attend without financial stress, allowing me to focus entirely on learning and networking. I’m deeply grateful for this support and sincerely hope to attend again in future years. I also want to commend the organizers for a well-executed event. Every detail—from the scheduling of sessions to the networking opportunities—was designed to maximize value and encourage engagement. It was a genuinely enriching environment that promoted learning, discussion, and collaboration.
Lastly, I encourage other graduate students and early-career researchers to participate in future PainConnect meetings. Whether you’re involved in clinical care, research, policy, or education, there is something valuable for everyone. The exposure to cutting-edge work, the ability to meet leaders in the field, and the encouragement to think beyond one’s academic silos are all reasons this event stands out.
This meeting has further solidified my commitment to improving pain care outcomes through health policy and data-driven interventions. I’m especially excited to incorporate some of the knowledge I’ve gained here into my own research on opioid use, quality of life, and racial disparities. I look forward to staying connected with the people I met and hopefully presenting my own work in a future session.
Thank you again to the AAPM Foundation for this opportunity. I hope to continue learning, contributing, and growing within this inspiring community.
