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Joignez-vous à nous chaque dernier vendredi du mois!

Ces rencontres permettent de discuter d’une multitude de sujets en lien avec la douleur chronique avec des scientifiques, des prestataires de soins, des pédagogues et des personnes qui œuvrent pour la douleur. Nous dressons la table pour des esprits avant-gardistes afin d'innover et découvrir des solutions pour vous aider dans votre pratique.  

 

Avant d'assister ou de regarder ces séances, veuillez lire nos conditions d'utilisation.

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Série nationale sur la douleur

Introducing National Pain Rounds for Trainees!  See the Schedule >

Joignez-vous à nous chaque dernier vendredi du mois!

Ces rencontres permettent de discuter d’une multitude de sujets en lien avec la douleur chronique avec des scientifiques, des prestataires de soins, des pédagogues et des personnes qui œuvrent pour la douleur. Nous dressons la table pour des esprits avant-gardistes afin d'innover et découvrir des solutions pour vous aider dans votre pratique.  

 

Avant d'assister ou de regarder ces séances, veuillez lire nos conditions d'utilisation.

#SérieNationaleDouleur
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • X

Série nationale sur la douleur

Introducing National Pain Rounds for Trainees!  See the Schedule >

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Rachael Bosma

Dr. Rachael Bosma is a chronic pain scientist at Women’s College Hospital and the University of Toronto, where she serves as Director of the Centre for the Study of Pain. Her work integrates research, education, and clinical innovation to improve access to pain management and advance evidence-based care. With a focus on women’s health and chronic pain, she collaborates with clinicians, researchers, and patient partners to drive system-level change. Dr. Bosma is also deeply engaged in provincial and national initiatives, serving as Chair of the Board of Pain Ontario to strengthen support, education, and research for people living with pain.

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Hance Clarke

Director of Pain Services and the Pain Research Unit at the Toronto General Hospital (TGH). He is the Knowledge Translation Chair for the University of Toronto Centre For the Study of Pain and an Associate Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Toronto. As a clinician-scientist, Dr. Clarke has played a leading role in educating the public about pain control, alternatives to opioids, and the need for further studies on the beneficial and adverse effects of cannabis. He is a champion of evidence-based solutions for the opioid crisis and an advocate for a national pain and addictions strategy. He has authored over 100 peer reviewed publications and has been invited to speak on pain control, cannabis and the opioid crisis to the House of Commons in Ottawa, Canada and elsewhere around the world. He has won numerous awards including the 2016 Early Career Award from the Canadian Pain Society and the 2019 US Mayday Pain and Society Fellowship in recognition of his outstanding research and commitment to improving pain care.

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Tania Di Renna

Dr. Tania Di Renna, Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, completed her medical school and Anesthesiology residency training in Ottawa. She obtained a chronic pain fellowship at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto and has spinal cord stimulation training from Montreal Neurological Institute. 

She is currently the Medical Director of the Toronto Academic Pain Medicine Institute (TAPMI). TAPMI is the comprehensive interdisciplinary academic pain program serving as the hub for chronic pain care in Toronto. She is also the Medical Director of the Chronic Pain Clinic at Women’s College Hospital and an Anesthesiologist at UHN. She served as the co-chair of the HQO Guidelines for Chronic Pain, is currently the co-chair of the Ontario Chronic Pain Network and Ontario Representative for Pain Canada.

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Virginia McIntyre

Virginia McIntyre is the President and Executive Director of the People In Pain Network (Society). Her dedication to improving pain management and raising awareness about chronic pain is evident in her active participation in numerous research projects and pain-related initiatives. She serves on several influential committees, including Pain Canada's National Advisory Committee and the US Association for the Study of Pain’s PWLE Committee. Additionally, she chairs the Canadian Pain Society’s Communication Committee and PWLE Committee. Virginia is notably the first Canadian with lived experience to be awarded the Mayday Pain and Science Fellowship (2023/24). Virginia co-hosts a compelling new podcast, Action On Pain, that amplifies the voices of people living with pain and is grounded in Health Canada’s Action Plan for Pain. As an international presenter, educator, and advocate, she is dedicated to advancing understanding of chronic pain management and the impact of lived experience.

September National Pain Rounds for Professionals

Chronic Noncancer Pain Management: Integration of a Nurse-Led Program in Primary Care

We will describe a registered nurse (RN)-led chronic pain intervention, embedded within a family practice, which is not common in Canada. The RN explains to the patients what their pain diagnosis is, how it may have come about and what personal, community and societal resources could help them. Body weight, smoking history, and substance use, sleep, exercise, ergonomics, psychological and social factors are discussed with the patients. A hand-written Pain Explanation and Treatment Diagram then summarizes these “pain risk factors”, allowing the patients to self-manage their condition. Each time they consult the RN, this document is re-read and modified.

  1. Review the chronic disease model practiced in primary care and how chronic pain management fits within it

  2. Describe the fundamental components of an RN-led chronic pain program in primary care practice

  3. Explain the Pain Explanation and Treatment Diagram and the “pain risk factors”

  4. Discuss the importance of an RN-led  program in primary care from the point of view of a person with lived experience.

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Rachael Bosma

Dr. Rachael Bosma is a chronic pain scientist at Women’s College Hospital and the University of Toronto, where she serves as Director of the Centre for the Study of Pain. Her work integrates research, education, and clinical innovation to improve access to pain management and advance evidence-based care. With a focus on women’s health and chronic pain, she collaborates with clinicians, researchers, and patient partners to drive system-level change. Dr. Bosma is also deeply engaged in provincial and national initiatives, serving as Chair of the Board of Pain Ontario to strengthen support, education, and research for people living with pain.

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Hance Clarke

Director of Pain Services and the Pain Research Unit at the Toronto General Hospital (TGH). He is the Knowledge Translation Chair for the University of Toronto Centre For the Study of Pain and an Associate Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Toronto. As a clinician-scientist, Dr. Clarke has played a leading role in educating the public about pain control, alternatives to opioids, and the need for further studies on the beneficial and adverse effects of cannabis. He is a champion of evidence-based solutions for the opioid crisis and an advocate for a national pain and addictions strategy. He has authored over 100 peer reviewed publications and has been invited to speak on pain control, cannabis and the opioid crisis to the House of Commons in Ottawa, Canada and elsewhere around the world. He has won numerous awards including the 2016 Early Career Award from the Canadian Pain Society and the 2019 US Mayday Pain and Society Fellowship in recognition of his outstanding research and commitment to improving pain care.

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Tania Di Renna

Dr. Tania Di Renna, Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, completed her medical school and Anesthesiology residency training in Ottawa. She obtained a chronic pain fellowship at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto and has spinal cord stimulation training from Montreal Neurological Institute. 

She is currently the Medical Director of the Toronto Academic Pain Medicine Institute (TAPMI). TAPMI is the comprehensive interdisciplinary academic pain program serving as the hub for chronic pain care in Toronto. She is also the Medical Director of the Chronic Pain Clinic at Women’s College Hospital and an Anesthesiologist at UHN. She served as the co-chair of the HQO Guidelines for Chronic Pain, is currently the co-chair of the Ontario Chronic Pain Network and Ontario Representative for Pain Canada.

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Virginia McIntyre

Virginia McIntyre is the President and Executive Director of the People In Pain Network (Society). Her dedication to improving pain management and raising awareness about chronic pain is evident in her active participation in numerous research projects and pain-related initiatives. She serves on several influential committees, including Pain Canada's National Advisory Committee and the US Association for the Study of Pain’s PWLE Committee. Additionally, she chairs the Canadian Pain Society’s Communication Committee and PWLE Committee. Virginia is notably the first Canadian with lived experience to be awarded the Mayday Pain and Science Fellowship (2023/24). Virginia co-hosts a compelling new podcast, Action On Pain, that amplifies the voices of people living with pain and is grounded in Health Canada’s Action Plan for Pain. As an international presenter, educator, and advocate, she is dedicated to advancing understanding of chronic pain management and the impact of lived experience.

September National Pain Rounds for Professionals

Chronic Noncancer Pain Management: Integration of a Nurse-Led Program in Primary Care

We will describe a registered nurse (RN)-led chronic pain intervention, embedded within a family practice, which is not common in Canada. The RN explains to the patients what their pain diagnosis is, how it may have come about and what personal, community and societal resources could help them. Body weight, smoking history, and substance use, sleep, exercise, ergonomics, psychological and social factors are discussed with the patients. A hand-written Pain Explanation and Treatment Diagram then summarizes these “pain risk factors”, allowing the patients to self-manage their condition. Each time they consult the RN, this document is re-read and modified.

  1. Review the chronic disease model practiced in primary care and how chronic pain management fits within it

  2. Describe the fundamental components of an RN-led chronic pain program in primary care practice

  3. Explain the Pain Explanation and Treatment Diagram and the “pain risk factors”

  4. Discuss the importance of an RN-led  program in primary care from the point of view of a person with lived experience.

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Rebecca Pillai Riddel

Dr. Pillai Riddell is the Tier 1 York Research Chair in Pain and Mental Health and Director of the Opportunities to Understand Childhood Hurt Laboratory (OUCH Lab ; www.yorku.ca/ouchlab) in the Department of Psychology of York University in Toronto, On-tario, Canada. She is also a registered clinical psychologist, focused on her practice in per-inatal/parent mental health, infant mental health, and chronic pain. As both a basic be-havioural scientist and a clinician-scientist, Dr. Pillai Riddell leads a multi-national re-search program that studies parents and babies during painful procedures. Her research is funded by all three national Canadian research councils (Canadian Institutes of Health Re-search, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Social Sciences and Humani-ties Research Council). She is also involved extensively in supporting EDI initiatives in re-search ecosystems. She is the Nominated Principal Investigator for DIVERT Mental Health- a multi-million dollar CIHR-funded national training program in setting out to disrupt the Canadian mental health system by innovating curriculum for mental health trainees that focuses on more diverse knowledges and leverages technology to make services accessi-ble to more Canadians (divertmentalhealth.ca). DIVERT Mental Health is partnered with IBM Canada and more than 30 other academic, industry, and NGO organizations across Canada. She also leads an open-access online learning platform for researchers on how to adjudicate more inclusively and supportively (https://www.yorku.ca/research/project/polaris/). Pillai Riddell is a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and a member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists. She was also recently awarded the 2020 Canadian Pain Society’s Outstanding Mentorship Award and the 2019 American Pain Society’s Jeffrey Lawson Award for Advocacy in Children’s Pain.

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Vina Mohabir

Vina Mohabir (she/her) is a PhD student at the University of Toronto and The Hospital for Sick Children. As a disabled Indo-Caribbean settler, cancer survivor, and person living with chronic pain, Vina brings lived experience to her scholarship and advocacy. Her work is grounded in intersectional, anti-colonial, and feminist praxis, shaped by more than a decade of community-engaged work across health equity, youth advocacy, and digital innovation. Her doctoral research focuses on reimagining stigma reduction in chronic pain care for equity-deserving youth. Through participatory action research, she is co-designing a digital therapeutic aimed at reducing stigma experienced by Black youth with sickle cell disease. This work is situated within broader systems of anti-Black racism, medical violence, and structural inequity. Vina’s research integrates critical qualitative methods, intersectionality-based analysis, and digital health implementation science. She is passionate about creating spaces where youth expertise is recognized as knowledge and care is redefined through relational, embodied, and culturally grounded approaches. Vina believes research must be accountable to the communities it serves and is committed to amplifying the leadership of diverse youth in shaping the future of pain care.

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Jaris Swidrovich

Dr. Jaris Swidrovich (he/they) is an Assistant Professor and Indigenous Engagement Lead in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto. He is a queer, Two Spirit, Saulteaux and Ukrainian pharmacist from Yellow Quill First Nation. His mother was a 60s Scoop survivor and his grandmother and great-grandmother both survived Indian Residential Schools. Dr. Swidrovich is the Co-Scientific Director of the CIHR-funded Saskatchewan Network Environment for Indigenous Health Research (SK-NEIHR) called nātawihowin (“art of self-healing” in Cree), which is a First Nations Research Network that supports researchers, students, and First Nations health leaders and communities in Saskatchewan and beyond. Dr. Swidrovich is the founder and chair of the Indigenous Pharmacy Professionals of Canada, and also sits on several other local, provincial, and national boards, including The 519, Pain Ontario, Pain Canada, the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health, and is an Institute Advisory Board member for the CIHR Institute of Indigenous Peoples’ Health. Dr. Swidrovich is an active and engaged citizen of the several communities he belongs to and has been recognized with several awards and honours, including the Governor General’s Gold Medal and the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies Distinguished Dissertation Award for his PhD dissertation, the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal for service to the community, and the National Patient Care Achievement Award from the Canadian Pharmacists Association. Every member of his family lives with or has lived with chronic pain, which has pushed him to give back in this space. Dr. Swidrovich was a member of the Canadian Pain Task Force and is a current National Advisory Committee member of Pain Canada. He is also a board member of Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP) and a founding board member of Pain Ontario.

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Anna Hood

Dr Anna Hood is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Psychology in the Division of Psychology and Mental Health and the Policy Director at the Manchester Centre for Health Psychology at the University of Manchester. She is a clinical health psychologist and completed her graduate and postdoctoral training in the US and UK at Washington University in St. Louis, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and UCL, Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health. She has received pre-doctoral and postdoctoral fellowships from the National Institutes of Health. She is currently funded as a PI and Co-I on grants from the UK National Institutes of Health Research, the UK Medical Research Foundation, and the Society for Pediatric Psychology (SPP). Dr Hood’s research examines the biopsychosocial challenges faced by pediatric patients living with pain, with a particular focus on children and young adults living with sickle cell. She has published extensively and collaborates on projects to understand pain from structural perspectives, develop mechanisms for restoration, and create pathways for justice to eliminate pain inequities. Dr Hood was recently awarded the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) Ulf Lindblom Young Investigator Prize for Clinical Science for her work with youth living with sickle cell. Dr Hood serves on the IASP Presidential Task Force for Sustainability and the SPP Presidential Task Force for Advocacy. She has also provided expertise on a Network of European Funding for Neuroscience Research project (i.e., Enhancing Trust in Pain Evidence [ENTRUST-PE]), the UK Research and Innovation Medical Research Council Black in Biomedical Research Advisory Group, the American Society of Hematology Roadmap to Improve DEI in Hematology Clinical Trials, and the National Institutes for Health Research James Lind Alliance Sickle Cell Genomics Priority Setting Partnership.

October National Pain Rounds for Professionals

Chronic Noncancer Pain Management: Integration of a Nurse-Led Program in Primary Care

We will describe a registered nurse (RN)-led chronic pain intervention, embedded within a family practice, which is not common in Canada. The RN explains to the patients what their pain diagnosis is, how it may have come about and what personal, community and societal resources could help them. Body weight, smoking history, and substance use, sleep, exercise, ergonomics, psychological and social factors are discussed with the patients. A hand-written Pain Explanation and Treatment Diagram then summarizes these “pain risk factors”, allowing the patients to self-manage their condition. Each time they consult the RN, this document is re-read and modified.

  1. Review the chronic disease model practiced in primary care and how chronic pain management fits within it

  2. Describe the fundamental components of an RN-led chronic pain program in primary care practice

  3. Explain the Pain Explanation and Treatment Diagram and the “pain risk factors”

  4. Discuss the importance of an RN-led  program in primary care from the point of view of a person with lived experience.

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John Pereira

Previous President of the Canadian Pain Society, previous President of the Pain Society of Alberta, and a Founding Co-Chair of the Alberta Pain Strategy. He is a past Ronald Melzack Fellow of the McGill Pain Center and has spoken on the topic of chronic pain both nationally and internationally, including at the Centers for Disease Control, ANZCA Auckland, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Mayo Clinic. He represented Western Canada on the committee of physicians who wrote our country’s National Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of fibromyalgia. Dr. John Pereira was the physician lead of FibroFOCUS, an interdisciplinary chronic pain program that won a 2016 Patient Experience Award from the Health Quality Council of Alberta. He was a member of the Canadian Pain Task Force's External Advisory Panel and a current member of Pain Canada's National Advisory Council. He has personally visited more than sixty pain clinics worldwide to learn best practices.

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Brad Kerr

Dr. Bradley Kerr received his BSc in Psychology from McGill University. He then went on to obtain a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of London-King’s College in the UK. His PhD research was aimed at understanding the role of novel modulatory peptides, growth factors and pro-inflammatory cytokines in persistent pain. Dr. Kerr went on to do postdoctoral work at the California Institute of Technology and at McGill University where his work focused on studying inflammatory responses after nervous system injury. Dr. Kerr joined the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Alberta in 2007 and is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Psychiatry. The focus of research in his lab is aimed at addressing the mechanisms of chronic pain after injury or disease with a major focus on chronic pain associated with Multiple Sclerosis.

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Amalya Grodzinsky

Recently graduated from Shenkar College's Visual Communications department, I'm an art director and designer. I have always been a conceptual person, finding meaning in the smallest details, and so concept and narrative have become my biggest strengths in my work. In my projects, I love creating visual narratives that are both aesthetically pleasing and conceptually meaningful. In the final project for my B.A, I created a short film focused on carrying an invisible burden - fibromyalgia, and how society and my social circle have a hard time understanding my invisible pain.

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Amir Minerbi

Dr. Amir Minerbi is the director of the Rambam Institute for Pain Medicine since 2024. A graduate of the MD-PhD program (2009) of the The Ruth & Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion–Israel Institute of Technology, Dr. Minerbi subsequently completed residency programs in family medicine and pain medicine at the Rambam Institute for Pain Medicine. He also completed a clinical research fellowship at the Alan Edwards Pain Management Unit, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Canada (2017–2019). Specializing in the treatment of a variety of pain conditions, including low back pain, musculoskeletal pain, neuropathic pain, fibromyalgia and cancer-related pain, Dr. Minerbi is experienced in multiple treatment modalities including pharmaceutical treatment, imaging-guided injections and radio-frequency treatment. Dr. Minerbi is also an assistant professor at the Technion’s Faculty of Medicine. His field of research focuses on the role of the gut microbiome in chronic pain.

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Emerson Krock

Dr. Krock is an Assistant Professor at McGill University in the Alan Edwards Centre for Research on Pain and the Faculty of Dental Medicine and Oral Health Sciences. His research program focuses on autoantibody driven pain, sensory ganglia plasticity and extracellular matrix remodeling. During his PhD at McGill with Drs. Lisbet Haglund, Jean Ouellet, and Laura Stone he investigated mechanisms of intervertebral disc degeneration and chronic low back pain. Dr. Krock then pursued his postdoc research with Camilla Svensson at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. There his work focused on autoantibody driven pain in rheumatoid arthritis and he was part of the team that identified a role for IgG autoantibodies in fibromyalgia pain. Dr. Krock’s work has been previously funded by fellowships from the International Association for the Study of Pain, CIHR, FRQS and research grants from Swedish rheumatology foundations. His lab is now funded by the Rita Allen Foundation, the Louise and Alan Edwards Foundation, NSERC, the Biocodex Microbiota Foundation, the Quebec Pain Research Network and CFI.

OctoberNational Pain Rounds for Professionals

Embracing Diversity in Partnership: Engaging Equity-Deserving People with Lived Experience in Pain Research

Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition characterized by widespread pain, affecting many individuals globally. Despite its prevalence, the underlying causes remain poorly understood. Traditionally, the central nervous system has been recognized as a major contributor to fibromyalgia. However, recent research highlights the importance of the peripheral nervous system and the immune system in this condition. Preclinical research has identified a role for antibodies in fibromyalgia pain in a subset of patients. Emerging evidence suggests that the gut microbiome may play a causal role in fibromyalgia pain. This talk will explore the potential link between the gut microbiome and antibodies in fibromyalgia and how modulating the gut microbiome could be a promising approach to managing fibromyalgia. 

Learning Objectives:

  1. Review the links between the gut microbiome and fibromyalgia.

  2. Describe the latest research about the role of autoreactive antibodies in fibromyalgia and how they may be linked to the gut microbiome.

  3. Discuss how the recent advances in our understanding of the gut microbiome and autoreactive antibodies in fibromyalgia could impact patient care.

  1. Explain how a multidisciplinary approach to knowledge translation in the One Thing video series fosters collaboration across researchers, clinicians, educators, and people with living/lived experience with pain, enhancing our understanding of persistent pain.

  2. Describe the impact of including people with living/lived experience with pain in the One Thing interviews, highlighting how their lived experiences influence the dissemination of pain science and shift clinical and societal perspectives on persistent pain.

  3. Identify practical strategies for clinicians to incorporate One Thing video insights into their practice, improving patient education, fostering empathy, and promoting evidence-informed approaches to managing persistent pain.

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Nivez Rasic

Nivez Rasic, MD,is a dually-trained FRCPC pediatric anesthesiologist and pain medicine specialist and a Clinical Associate Professor with the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative & Pain Medicine at the University of Calgary. She has the privilege of serving as the Medical Director of the Vi Riddell Pain Program at the Alberta Children’s Hospital (Calgary, Canada), which is a unique program involving a partnership with clinical care and pediatric pain research, as well as specialized programming such as the intensive pain rehabilitation program (IIPT) for adolescents, which was the first to launch in Canada in 2014, as well as the Bridging Pain Service. She is a researcher, educator, advocate and leader in pediatric pain. Nivez also served as the Acute Pain Lead for the Alberta Pain Strategy from 2019-2024, being awarded a large grant focused on improving acute pain management and opioid stewardship for adult and pediatric surgical patients, and designing provincial services to decrease the development of chronic pain after surgery and preventing long-term opioid use.

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Bradley Kerr

Dr. Bradley Kerr received his BSc in Psychology from McGill University. He then went on to obtain a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of London-King’s College in the UK. His PhD research was aimed at understanding the role of novel modulatory peptides, growth factors and pro-inflammatory cytokines in persistent pain. Dr. Kerr went on to do postdoctoral work at the California Institute of Technology and at McGill University where his work focused on studying inflammatory responses after nervous system injury. Dr. Kerr joined the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Alberta in 2007 and is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Psychiatry. The focus of research in his lab is aimed at addressing the mechanisms of chronic pain after injury or disease with a major focus on chronic pain associated with Multiple Sclerosis.

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James Boseley

James Boseley is the Trades and Pain (TAP) project lead at Pain BC. James has been a volunteer with the Coaching for Health program since 2022 and graduated with a diploma in Applied Psychology Specializing in Counselling in 2024. James has 25 years of oilfield and trades related experience. With his background in mental health and lived experience with Chronic Pain, James is passionate about the Trades and Pain project and looks forward to helping people in trades work towards a better life.

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Brittany Rosenbloom

Dr. Brittany Rosenbloom is a Clinical and Health Psychologist based at the Toronto Academic Pain Medicine Institute in Women's College Hospital. Clinically, she was trained across the lifespan and approaches each person with a developmental and biopsychosocial lens. Dr. Rosenbloom is also an Associate Scientist in Women's College Hospital and an Assistant Professor (Status) in the Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine at the University of Toronto. She primarily studies pain, mental health concerns, and trauma. She is interested in the development of chronic pain conditions and the intersection with mental health from both a mechanisms perspective as well as treatment perspective.

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Max Slepian

Dr. Max Slepian, PhD, CPsych is the Lead Psychologist of the Transitional Pain Service in the Department of Anesthesia and Pain Management at Toronto General Hospital, Clinician Investigator at the Krembil Research Institute, and Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Toronto. He is also a Pain Scientist with the University of Toronto Centre for the Study of Pain. His clinical and research focus is on psychological interventions to prevent and manage chronic pain. He also works to develop strategies to scale psychological interventions for pain to make them more readily available.

June National Pain Rounds for Professionals

Making Inroads into Better Pain Management for Patients Throughout the Surgical Journey

Surgery and trauma are one of the main causes of acute pain in hospitalized individuals. Poorly managed acute pain has many short- and long- term consequences, including the risk of developing chronic pain, which can be a lifelong debilitating condition. Preventing the development of chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) is a top priority for patients, families, healthcare professionals and policymakers. This session will discuss risk factors for the development of CPSP in children and adults, as well as the development and implementation of a pediatric and adult transitional pain services. It will highlight an example of an individual’s difficult journey with CPSP and touch on how identification and mitigation of these risk factors can improve patient outcomes in the future.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Highlight the journeys of pediatric and adult pain program development to address the CPSP gap in pain care.

  2. Identify new strategies to overcome barriers to the uptake of multidisciplinary care for postsurgical pain

  3. Identify risk factors for the development of CPSP in pediatrics and adults

  1. Explain how a multidisciplinary approach to knowledge translation in the One Thing video series fosters collaboration across researchers, clinicians, educators, and people with living/lived experience with pain, enhancing our understanding of persistent pain.

  2. Describe the impact of including people with living/lived experience with pain in the One Thing interviews, highlighting how their lived experiences influence the dissemination of pain science and shift clinical and societal perspectives on persistent pain.

  3. Identify practical strategies for clinicians to incorporate One Thing video insights into their practice, improving patient education, fostering empathy, and promoting evidence-informed approaches to managing persistent pain.

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Tania Di Renna

Dr. Tania Di Renna, Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, completed her medical school and Anesthesiology residency training in Ottawa. She obtained a chronic pain fellowship at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto and has spinal cord stimulation training from Montreal Neurological Institute. 

She is currently the Medical Director of the Toronto Academic Pain Medicine Institute (TAPMI). TAPMI is the comprehensive interdisciplinary academic pain program serving as the hub for chronic pain care in Toronto. She is also the Medical Director of the Chronic Pain Clinic at Women’s College Hospital and an Anesthesiologist at UHN. She served as the co-chair of the HQO Guidelines for Chronic Pain, is currently the co-chair of the Ontario Chronic Pain Network and Ontario Representative for Pain Canada.

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Nancy Bowie

Born and raised in Rossland BC, I am grateful to live, work and play on the traditional and unceded territory of the Sinixt people. My 36-year career as a registered nurse spanned both acute and community mental health, working primarily with adults suffering with anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, eating disorders and chronic pain. During my career I was part of a four-person team who developed a group therapy-based day hospital program which ran for 12 years. In the community I developed and ran various group therapies including an 8-week group for people struggling with chronic pain, which I ran for 6 years. I am a longtime volunteer with Pain BC. I participated in discussions which led to the development of the Live Plan Be+ program. In conjunction with the Divisions of Family Practice and Pain BC, I was part of a pilot project that placed a Pain Navigator in a Family practice clinic to help in managing complex pain patients. I was also involved in an education program with the Division of Family Practice and local GP’s to look at alternatives to opioids with pain management. I have been a peer facilitator for Pain Support and Wellness groups with Pain BC for the past 5 years and am currently a member of a joint quality improvement team with Pain BC and PainCare BC as a person with lived pain experience. In addition to volunteering with Pain BC, I am a volunteer team lead with Canadian Red Cross/ Emergency Support Services in the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary, and a volunteer with Skate Canada for our local skating club. I enjoy downhill and cross-country skiing, ice skating, mountain biking, snorkeling, kayaking, walking, traveling, sewing, crafting and spending time with family, especially my grandchildren. I live with a genetic condition called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome - Hypermobile type which affects multiple systems and areas of my body. The laxity of my ligaments and tendons leads to chronic pain and issues. Maintaining regular fitness, diet, mental health, and therapies such as physio and massage help me to manage.

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Isabelle LeClerc

Isabelle LeClerc is a Registered Nurse with thirty-nine years of nursing experience working in Ottawa. For the last twenty-five years she has worked in an interdisciplinary academic primary care setting. During the last decade, she has developed multiple chronic disease self-management programs, which also includes a Chronic Non-Cancer Pain Program. Isabelle has presented posters, given workshops and webinars in Canada, as well as internationally. According to Isabelle, the most rewarding part of sharing this knowledge is observing improvements in the quality of life of those who take on an active role in the self-management of their chronic disease.

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Hillel Finestone

Dr. Hillel Finestone is a specialist in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (physiatrist) at Bruyere Health and Full Professor in Medicine at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Finestone treats patients experiencing chronic, musculoskeletal and neurologic pain. He also treats out-patients in the multi-disciplinary stroke rehabilitation clinic at Bruyere Health, Ottawa, Ontario. Dr. Finestone’s research interests include: 1) Multidisciplinary pain care for patients in Family Medicine, 2) Opioids and Pain – the terrible problem that medicine and society has created with regards to opioids and addictions, 3) Mind-body issues- particularly how mental health problems like stress and anxiety may lead to multiple, peripheral painful conditions and how educating patients to become their own “pain detectives” is so important. Dr. Finestone’s book, The Pain Detective, Every Ache Tells a Story (published by Praeger ABC-Clio, 2009, Santa Barbara, CA) describes the roles that psychological and social factors may play in healing and recovery from a painful injury.

Série pour les professionnels

February

Title Two

March

Title One

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Tania Di Renna

Dr. Tania Di Renna, Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, completed her medical school and Anesthesiology residency training in Ottawa. She obtained a chronic pain fellowship at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto and has spinal cord stimulation training from Montreal Neurological Institute. 

She is currently the Medical Director of the Toronto Academic Pain Medicine Institute (TAPMI). TAPMI is the comprehensive interdisciplinary academic pain program serving as the hub for chronic pain care in Toronto. She is also the Medical Director of the Chronic Pain Clinic at Women’s College Hospital and an Anesthesiologist at UHN. She served as the co-chair of the HQO Guidelines for Chronic Pain, is currently the co-chair of the Ontario Chronic Pain Network and Ontario Representative for Pain Canada.

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Nancy Bowie

Born and raised in Rossland BC, I am grateful to live, work and play on the traditional and unceded territory of the Sinixt people. My 36-year career as a registered nurse spanned both acute and community mental health, working primarily with adults suffering with anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, eating disorders and chronic pain. During my career I was part of a four-person team who developed a group therapy-based day hospital program which ran for 12 years. In the community I developed and ran various group therapies including an 8-week group for people struggling with chronic pain, which I ran for 6 years. I am a longtime volunteer with Pain BC. I participated in discussions which led to the development of the Live Plan Be+ program. In conjunction with the Divisions of Family Practice and Pain BC, I was part of a pilot project that placed a Pain Navigator in a Family practice clinic to help in managing complex pain patients. I was also involved in an education program with the Division of Family Practice and local GP’s to look at alternatives to opioids with pain management. I have been a peer facilitator for Pain Support and Wellness groups with Pain BC for the past 5 years and am currently a member of a joint quality improvement team with Pain BC and PainCare BC as a person with lived pain experience. In addition to volunteering with Pain BC, I am a volunteer team lead with Canadian Red Cross/ Emergency Support Services in the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary, and a volunteer with Skate Canada for our local skating club. I enjoy downhill and cross-country skiing, ice skating, mountain biking, snorkeling, kayaking, walking, traveling, sewing, crafting and spending time with family, especially my grandchildren. I live with a genetic condition called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome - Hypermobile type which affects multiple systems and areas of my body. The laxity of my ligaments and tendons leads to chronic pain and issues. Maintaining regular fitness, diet, mental health, and therapies such as physio and massage help me to manage.

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Isabelle LeClerc

Isabelle LeClerc is a Registered Nurse with thirty-nine years of nursing experience working in Ottawa. For the last twenty-five years she has worked in an interdisciplinary academic primary care setting. During the last decade, she has developed multiple chronic disease self-management programs, which also includes a Chronic Non-Cancer Pain Program. Isabelle has presented posters, given workshops and webinars in Canada, as well as internationally. According to Isabelle, the most rewarding part of sharing this knowledge is observing improvements in the quality of life of those who take on an active role in the self-management of their chronic disease.

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Hillel Finestone

Dr. Hillel Finestone is a specialist in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (physiatrist) at Bruyere Health and Full Professor in Medicine at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Finestone treats patients experiencing chronic, musculoskeletal and neurologic pain. He also treats out-patients in the multi-disciplinary stroke rehabilitation clinic at Bruyere Health, Ottawa, Ontario. Dr. Finestone’s research interests include: 1) Multidisciplinary pain care for patients in Family Medicine, 2) Opioids and Pain – the terrible problem that medicine and society has created with regards to opioids and addictions, 3) Mind-body issues- particularly how mental health problems like stress and anxiety may lead to multiple, peripheral painful conditions and how educating patients to become their own “pain detectives” is so important. Dr. Finestone’s book, The Pain Detective, Every Ache Tells a Story (published by Praeger ABC-Clio, 2009, Santa Barbara, CA) describes the roles that psychological and social factors may play in healing and recovery from a painful injury.

FEBRUARY

Chronic noncancer pain management: Integration of a nurse-led program in primary care

Série pour les professionnels

MARCH

One Thing, Many Voices: Pain Science Through Collaboration

APRIL

Presentation details coming soon

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Tania Di Renna

Dr. Tania Di Renna, Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, completed her medical school and Anesthesiology residency training in Ottawa. She obtained a chronic pain fellowship at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto and has spinal cord stimulation training from Montreal Neurological Institute. 

She is currently the Medical Director of the Toronto Academic Pain Medicine Institute (TAPMI). TAPMI is the comprehensive interdisciplinary academic pain program serving as the hub for chronic pain care in Toronto. She is also the Medical Director of the Chronic Pain Clinic at Women’s College Hospital and an Anesthesiologist at UHN. She served as the co-chair of the HQO Guidelines for Chronic Pain, is currently the co-chair of the Ontario Chronic Pain Network and Ontario Representative for Pain Canada.

Nancy_edited.jpg
Nancy Bowie

Born and raised in Rossland BC, I am grateful to live, work and play on the traditional and unceded territory of the Sinixt people. My 36-year career as a registered nurse spanned both acute and community mental health, working primarily with adults suffering with anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, eating disorders and chronic pain. During my career I was part of a four-person team who developed a group therapy-based day hospital program which ran for 12 years. In the community I developed and ran various group therapies including an 8-week group for people struggling with chronic pain, which I ran for 6 years. I am a longtime volunteer with Pain BC. I participated in discussions which led to the development of the Live Plan Be+ program. In conjunction with the Divisions of Family Practice and Pain BC, I was part of a pilot project that placed a Pain Navigator in a Family practice clinic to help in managing complex pain patients. I was also involved in an education program with the Division of Family Practice and local GP’s to look at alternatives to opioids with pain management. I have been a peer facilitator for Pain Support and Wellness groups with Pain BC for the past 5 years and am currently a member of a joint quality improvement team with Pain BC and PainCare BC as a person with lived pain experience. In addition to volunteering with Pain BC, I am a volunteer team lead with Canadian Red Cross/ Emergency Support Services in the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary, and a volunteer with Skate Canada for our local skating club. I enjoy downhill and cross-country skiing, ice skating, mountain biking, snorkeling, kayaking, walking, traveling, sewing, crafting and spending time with family, especially my grandchildren. I live with a genetic condition called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome - Hypermobile type which affects multiple systems and areas of my body. The laxity of my ligaments and tendons leads to chronic pain and issues. Maintaining regular fitness, diet, mental health, and therapies such as physio and massage help me to manage.

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Isabelle LeClerc

Isabelle LeClerc is a Registered Nurse with thirty-nine years of nursing experience working in Ottawa. For the last twenty-five years she has worked in an interdisciplinary academic primary care setting. During the last decade, she has developed multiple chronic disease self-management programs, which also includes a Chronic Non-Cancer Pain Program. Isabelle has presented posters, given workshops and webinars in Canada, as well as internationally. According to Isabelle, the most rewarding part of sharing this knowledge is observing improvements in the quality of life of those who take on an active role in the self-management of their chronic disease.

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Hillel Finestone

Dr. Hillel Finestone is a specialist in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (physiatrist) at Bruyere Health and Full Professor in Medicine at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Finestone treats patients experiencing chronic, musculoskeletal and neurologic pain. He also treats out-patients in the multi-disciplinary stroke rehabilitation clinic at Bruyere Health, Ottawa, Ontario. Dr. Finestone’s research interests include: 1) Multidisciplinary pain care for patients in Family Medicine, 2) Opioids and Pain – the terrible problem that medicine and society has created with regards to opioids and addictions, 3) Mind-body issues- particularly how mental health problems like stress and anxiety may lead to multiple, peripheral painful conditions and how educating patients to become their own “pain detectives” is so important. Dr. Finestone’s book, The Pain Detective, Every Ache Tells a Story (published by Praeger ABC-Clio, 2009, Santa Barbara, CA) describes the roles that psychological and social factors may play in healing and recovery from a painful injury.

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Tania Di Renna

Dr. Tania Di Renna, Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, completed her medical school and Anesthesiology residency training in Ottawa. She obtained a chronic pain fellowship at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto and has spinal cord stimulation training from Montreal Neurological Institute. 

She is currently the Medical Director of the Toronto Academic Pain Medicine Institute (TAPMI). TAPMI is the comprehensive interdisciplinary academic pain program serving as the hub for chronic pain care in Toronto. She is also the Medical Director of the Chronic Pain Clinic at Women’s College Hospital and an Anesthesiologist at UHN. She served as the co-chair of the HQO Guidelines for Chronic Pain, is currently the co-chair of the Ontario Chronic Pain Network and Ontario Representative for Pain Canada.

Nancy_edited.jpg
Nancy Bowie

Born and raised in Rossland BC, I am grateful to live, work and play on the traditional and unceded territory of the Sinixt people. My 36-year career as a registered nurse spanned both acute and community mental health, working primarily with adults suffering with anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, eating disorders and chronic pain. During my career I was part of a four-person team who developed a group therapy-based day hospital program which ran for 12 years. In the community I developed and ran various group therapies including an 8-week group for people struggling with chronic pain, which I ran for 6 years. I am a longtime volunteer with Pain BC. I participated in discussions which led to the development of the Live Plan Be+ program. In conjunction with the Divisions of Family Practice and Pain BC, I was part of a pilot project that placed a Pain Navigator in a Family practice clinic to help in managing complex pain patients. I was also involved in an education program with the Division of Family Practice and local GP’s to look at alternatives to opioids with pain management. I have been a peer facilitator for Pain Support and Wellness groups with Pain BC for the past 5 years and am currently a member of a joint quality improvement team with Pain BC and PainCare BC as a person with lived pain experience. In addition to volunteering with Pain BC, I am a volunteer team lead with Canadian Red Cross/ Emergency Support Services in the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary, and a volunteer with Skate Canada for our local skating club. I enjoy downhill and cross-country skiing, ice skating, mountain biking, snorkeling, kayaking, walking, traveling, sewing, crafting and spending time with family, especially my grandchildren. I live with a genetic condition called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome - Hypermobile type which affects multiple systems and areas of my body. The laxity of my ligaments and tendons leads to chronic pain and issues. Maintaining regular fitness, diet, mental health, and therapies such as physio and massage help me to manage.

Isabelle_edited.png
Isabelle LeClerc

Isabelle LeClerc is a Registered Nurse with thirty-nine years of nursing experience working in Ottawa. For the last twenty-five years she has worked in an interdisciplinary academic primary care setting. During the last decade, she has developed multiple chronic disease self-management programs, which also includes a Chronic Non-Cancer Pain Program. Isabelle has presented posters, given workshops and webinars in Canada, as well as internationally. According to Isabelle, the most rewarding part of sharing this knowledge is observing improvements in the quality of life of those who take on an active role in the self-management of their chronic disease.

Finestone headshot 2023 - 1_edited.jpg
Hillel Finestone

Dr. Hillel Finestone is a specialist in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (physiatrist) at Bruyere Health and Full Professor in Medicine at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Finestone treats patients experiencing chronic, musculoskeletal and neurologic pain. He also treats out-patients in the multi-disciplinary stroke rehabilitation clinic at Bruyere Health, Ottawa, Ontario. Dr. Finestone’s research interests include: 1) Multidisciplinary pain care for patients in Family Medicine, 2) Opioids and Pain – the terrible problem that medicine and society has created with regards to opioids and addictions, 3) Mind-body issues- particularly how mental health problems like stress and anxiety may lead to multiple, peripheral painful conditions and how educating patients to become their own “pain detectives” is so important. Dr. Finestone’s book, The Pain Detective, Every Ache Tells a Story (published by Praeger ABC-Clio, 2009, Santa Barbara, CA) describes the roles that psychological and social factors may play in healing and recovery from a painful injury.

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Suzanne Deutsch

Suzanne is a social worker and psychotherapist at KHSC’s Hotel Dieu Hospital Chronic Pain Clinic. She holds a Master’s of Social Work degree (McGill) and a graduate certificate in pain management (PM&R, University of Alberta). She is a Hub team member of the ECHO Ontario Chronic Pain and Opioid Stewardship program and facilitator for the Power Over Pain portal (French). She has training and experience in various treatment modalities including cognitive, behavioral, solution-focused and relational strategies. She predominantly uses pain reprocessing therapy (PRT), Emotion Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET), and Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Therapy (ISTDP-in progress) for long-term therapeutic gains.

October National Pain Rounds for Trainees

Providing Pain (Neuro) Science Education

  1. Explain how a multidisciplinary approach to knowledge translation in the One Thing video series fosters collaboration across researchers, clinicians, educators, and people with living/lived experience with pain, enhancing our understanding of persistent pain.

  2. Describe the impact of including people with living/lived experience with pain in the One Thing interviews, highlighting how their lived experiences influence the dissemination of pain science and shift clinical and societal perspectives on persistent pain.

  3. Identify practical strategies for clinicians to incorporate One Thing video insights into their practice, improving patient education, fostering empathy, and promoting evidence-informed approaches to managing persistent pain.

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

 

  • Be aware of the newer evidence supporting pain education

  • Adapt pain education according to patient beliefs and condition

  • Identify key messages to facilitate the reconceptualization of pain

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Tania Di Renna

Dr. Tania Di Renna, Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, completed her medical school and Anesthesiology residency training in Ottawa. She obtained a chronic pain fellowship at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto and has spinal cord stimulation training from Montreal Neurological Institute. 

She is currently the Medical Director of the Toronto Academic Pain Medicine Institute (TAPMI). TAPMI is the comprehensive interdisciplinary academic pain program serving as the hub for chronic pain care in Toronto. She is also the Medical Director of the Chronic Pain Clinic at Women’s College Hospital and an Anesthesiologist at UHN. She served as the co-chair of the HQO Guidelines for Chronic Pain, is currently the co-chair of the Ontario Chronic Pain Network and Ontario Representative for Pain Canada.

Nancy_edited.jpg
Nancy Bowie

Born and raised in Rossland BC, I am grateful to live, work and play on the traditional and unceded territory of the Sinixt people. My 36-year career as a registered nurse spanned both acute and community mental health, working primarily with adults suffering with anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, eating disorders and chronic pain. During my career I was part of a four-person team who developed a group therapy-based day hospital program which ran for 12 years. In the community I developed and ran various group therapies including an 8-week group for people struggling with chronic pain, which I ran for 6 years. I am a longtime volunteer with Pain BC. I participated in discussions which led to the development of the Live Plan Be+ program. In conjunction with the Divisions of Family Practice and Pain BC, I was part of a pilot project that placed a Pain Navigator in a Family practice clinic to help in managing complex pain patients. I was also involved in an education program with the Division of Family Practice and local GP’s to look at alternatives to opioids with pain management. I have been a peer facilitator for Pain Support and Wellness groups with Pain BC for the past 5 years and am currently a member of a joint quality improvement team with Pain BC and PainCare BC as a person with lived pain experience. In addition to volunteering with Pain BC, I am a volunteer team lead with Canadian Red Cross/ Emergency Support Services in the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary, and a volunteer with Skate Canada for our local skating club. I enjoy downhill and cross-country skiing, ice skating, mountain biking, snorkeling, kayaking, walking, traveling, sewing, crafting and spending time with family, especially my grandchildren. I live with a genetic condition called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome - Hypermobile type which affects multiple systems and areas of my body. The laxity of my ligaments and tendons leads to chronic pain and issues. Maintaining regular fitness, diet, mental health, and therapies such as physio and massage help me to manage.

Isabelle_edited.png
Isabelle LeClerc

Isabelle LeClerc is a Registered Nurse with thirty-nine years of nursing experience working in Ottawa. For the last twenty-five years she has worked in an interdisciplinary academic primary care setting. During the last decade, she has developed multiple chronic disease self-management programs, which also includes a Chronic Non-Cancer Pain Program. Isabelle has presented posters, given workshops and webinars in Canada, as well as internationally. According to Isabelle, the most rewarding part of sharing this knowledge is observing improvements in the quality of life of those who take on an active role in the self-management of their chronic disease.

Finestone headshot 2023 - 1_edited.jpg
Hillel Finestone

Dr. Hillel Finestone is a specialist in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (physiatrist) at Bruyere Health and Full Professor in Medicine at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Finestone treats patients experiencing chronic, musculoskeletal and neurologic pain. He also treats out-patients in the multi-disciplinary stroke rehabilitation clinic at Bruyere Health, Ottawa, Ontario. Dr. Finestone’s research interests include: 1) Multidisciplinary pain care for patients in Family Medicine, 2) Opioids and Pain – the terrible problem that medicine and society has created with regards to opioids and addictions, 3) Mind-body issues- particularly how mental health problems like stress and anxiety may lead to multiple, peripheral painful conditions and how educating patients to become their own “pain detectives” is so important. Dr. Finestone’s book, The Pain Detective, Every Ache Tells a Story (published by Praeger ABC-Clio, 2009, Santa Barbara, CA) describes the roles that psychological and social factors may play in healing and recovery from a painful injury.

FEBRUARY

Chronic noncancer pain management: Integration of a nurse-led program in primary care

Pain Rounds for Professionals

MARCH

One Thing, Many Voices: Pain Science Through Collaboration

APRIL

Presentation details coming soon

20241204_DA_skip_medicine_event_33043-P-097.JPG
Tania Di Renna

Dr. Tania Di Renna, Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, completed her medical school and Anesthesiology residency training in Ottawa. She obtained a chronic pain fellowship at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto and has spinal cord stimulation training from Montreal Neurological Institute. 

She is currently the Medical Director of the Toronto Academic Pain Medicine Institute (TAPMI). TAPMI is the comprehensive interdisciplinary academic pain program serving as the hub for chronic pain care in Toronto. She is also the Medical Director of the Chronic Pain Clinic at Women’s College Hospital and an Anesthesiologist at UHN. She served as the co-chair of the HQO Guidelines for Chronic Pain, is currently the co-chair of the Ontario Chronic Pain Network and Ontario Representative for Pain Canada.

Nancy_edited.jpg
Nancy Bowie

Born and raised in Rossland BC, I am grateful to live, work and play on the traditional and unceded territory of the Sinixt people. My 36-year career as a registered nurse spanned both acute and community mental health, working primarily with adults suffering with anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, eating disorders and chronic pain. During my career I was part of a four-person team who developed a group therapy-based day hospital program which ran for 12 years. In the community I developed and ran various group therapies including an 8-week group for people struggling with chronic pain, which I ran for 6 years. I am a longtime volunteer with Pain BC. I participated in discussions which led to the development of the Live Plan Be+ program. In conjunction with the Divisions of Family Practice and Pain BC, I was part of a pilot project that placed a Pain Navigator in a Family practice clinic to help in managing complex pain patients. I was also involved in an education program with the Division of Family Practice and local GP’s to look at alternatives to opioids with pain management. I have been a peer facilitator for Pain Support and Wellness groups with Pain BC for the past 5 years and am currently a member of a joint quality improvement team with Pain BC and PainCare BC as a person with lived pain experience. In addition to volunteering with Pain BC, I am a volunteer team lead with Canadian Red Cross/ Emergency Support Services in the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary, and a volunteer with Skate Canada for our local skating club. I enjoy downhill and cross-country skiing, ice skating, mountain biking, snorkeling, kayaking, walking, traveling, sewing, crafting and spending time with family, especially my grandchildren. I live with a genetic condition called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome - Hypermobile type which affects multiple systems and areas of my body. The laxity of my ligaments and tendons leads to chronic pain and issues. Maintaining regular fitness, diet, mental health, and therapies such as physio and massage help me to manage.

Isabelle_edited.png
Isabelle LeClerc

Isabelle LeClerc is a Registered Nurse with thirty-nine years of nursing experience working in Ottawa. For the last twenty-five years she has worked in an interdisciplinary academic primary care setting. During the last decade, she has developed multiple chronic disease self-management programs, which also includes a Chronic Non-Cancer Pain Program. Isabelle has presented posters, given workshops and webinars in Canada, as well as internationally. According to Isabelle, the most rewarding part of sharing this knowledge is observing improvements in the quality of life of those who take on an active role in the self-management of their chronic disease.

Finestone headshot 2023 - 1_edited.jpg
Hillel Finestone

Dr. Hillel Finestone is a specialist in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (physiatrist) at Bruyere Health and Full Professor in Medicine at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Finestone treats patients experiencing chronic, musculoskeletal and neurologic pain. He also treats out-patients in the multi-disciplinary stroke rehabilitation clinic at Bruyere Health, Ottawa, Ontario. Dr. Finestone’s research interests include: 1) Multidisciplinary pain care for patients in Family Medicine, 2) Opioids and Pain – the terrible problem that medicine and society has created with regards to opioids and addictions, 3) Mind-body issues- particularly how mental health problems like stress and anxiety may lead to multiple, peripheral painful conditions and how educating patients to become their own “pain detectives” is so important. Dr. Finestone’s book, The Pain Detective, Every Ache Tells a Story (published by Praeger ABC-Clio, 2009, Santa Barbara, CA) describes the roles that psychological and social factors may play in healing and recovery from a painful injury.

enews trainee feb 2025.png
Tania Di Renna

Dr. Tania Di Renna, Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, completed her medical school and Anesthesiology residency training in Ottawa. She obtained a chronic pain fellowship at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto and has spinal cord stimulation training from Montreal Neurological Institute. 

She is currently the Medical Director of the Toronto Academic Pain Medicine Institute (TAPMI). TAPMI is the comprehensive interdisciplinary academic pain program serving as the hub for chronic pain care in Toronto. She is also the Medical Director of the Chronic Pain Clinic at Women’s College Hospital and an Anesthesiologist at UHN. She served as the co-chair of the HQO Guidelines for Chronic Pain, is currently the co-chair of the Ontario Chronic Pain Network and Ontario Representative for Pain Canada.

Nancy_edited.jpg
Nancy Bowie

Born and raised in Rossland BC, I am grateful to live, work and play on the traditional and unceded territory of the Sinixt people. My 36-year career as a registered nurse spanned both acute and community mental health, working primarily with adults suffering with anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, eating disorders and chronic pain. During my career I was part of a four-person team who developed a group therapy-based day hospital program which ran for 12 years. In the community I developed and ran various group therapies including an 8-week group for people struggling with chronic pain, which I ran for 6 years. I am a longtime volunteer with Pain BC. I participated in discussions which led to the development of the Live Plan Be+ program. In conjunction with the Divisions of Family Practice and Pain BC, I was part of a pilot project that placed a Pain Navigator in a Family practice clinic to help in managing complex pain patients. I was also involved in an education program with the Division of Family Practice and local GP’s to look at alternatives to opioids with pain management. I have been a peer facilitator for Pain Support and Wellness groups with Pain BC for the past 5 years and am currently a member of a joint quality improvement team with Pain BC and PainCare BC as a person with lived pain experience. In addition to volunteering with Pain BC, I am a volunteer team lead with Canadian Red Cross/ Emergency Support Services in the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary, and a volunteer with Skate Canada for our local skating club. I enjoy downhill and cross-country skiing, ice skating, mountain biking, snorkeling, kayaking, walking, traveling, sewing, crafting and spending time with family, especially my grandchildren. I live with a genetic condition called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome - Hypermobile type which affects multiple systems and areas of my body. The laxity of my ligaments and tendons leads to chronic pain and issues. Maintaining regular fitness, diet, mental health, and therapies such as physio and massage help me to manage.

Isabelle_edited.png
Isabelle LeClerc

Isabelle LeClerc is a Registered Nurse with thirty-nine years of nursing experience working in Ottawa. For the last twenty-five years she has worked in an interdisciplinary academic primary care setting. During the last decade, she has developed multiple chronic disease self-management programs, which also includes a Chronic Non-Cancer Pain Program. Isabelle has presented posters, given workshops and webinars in Canada, as well as internationally. According to Isabelle, the most rewarding part of sharing this knowledge is observing improvements in the quality of life of those who take on an active role in the self-management of their chronic disease.

Finestone headshot 2023 - 1_edited.jpg
Hillel Finestone

Dr. Hillel Finestone is a specialist in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (physiatrist) at Bruyere Health and Full Professor in Medicine at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Finestone treats patients experiencing chronic, musculoskeletal and neurologic pain. He also treats out-patients in the multi-disciplinary stroke rehabilitation clinic at Bruyere Health, Ottawa, Ontario. Dr. Finestone’s research interests include: 1) Multidisciplinary pain care for patients in Family Medicine, 2) Opioids and Pain – the terrible problem that medicine and society has created with regards to opioids and addictions, 3) Mind-body issues- particularly how mental health problems like stress and anxiety may lead to multiple, peripheral painful conditions and how educating patients to become their own “pain detectives” is so important. Dr. Finestone’s book, The Pain Detective, Every Ache Tells a Story (published by Praeger ABC-Clio, 2009, Santa Barbara, CA) describes the roles that psychological and social factors may play in healing and recovery from a painful injury.

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Previous President of the Canadian Pain Society, previous President of the Pain Society of Alberta, and a Founding Co-Chair of the Alberta Pain Strategy. He is a past Ronald Melzack Fellow of the McGill Pain Center and has spoken on the topic of chronic pain both nationally and internationally, including at the Centers for Disease Control, ANZCA Auckland, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Mayo Clinic. He represented Western Canada on the committee of physicians who wrote our country’s National Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of fibromyalgia. Dr. John Pereira was the physician lead of FibroFOCUS, an interdisciplinary chronic pain program that won a 2016 Patient Experience Award from the Health Quality Council of Alberta. He was a member of the Canadian Pain Task Force's External Advisory Panel and a current member of Pain Canada's National Advisory Council. He has personally visited more than sixty pain clinics worldwide to learn best practices.

John Pereira

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Ms Dominique Gilbert has been working as a physiotherapist for 40 years. In private practice since 1996, her innovative approach emphasizes proper education of patients, as well as focusing on active treatment for pain management and returning to function. In fact, she believes that encouraging her patients to adopt active lifestyles during treatment encourages a more realistic self-evaluation of the patient's own physical capabilities.

Dominique Gilbert

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Arthur Woznowski-Vu has been a practicing physiotherapist since 2013, in Montreal, QC. He focused on developing his expertise in non-pharmacological management and rehabilitation of chronic pain by pursuing advanced education in the application of pain science to physiotherapy. He completed his PhD in Rehab Science at McGill University in 2023. His thesis focused on sensitivity to physical activity, which refers to the challenge of having increased pain or other negative reactions when trying to do physical activity as a treatment for pain conditions such as back pain. He has been the recipient of several scholarships, such as from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Fonds de Recherche du Québec en Santé, Institut de Recherche Robert-Sauvé en Santé et en Sécurité du Travail, Richard and Edith Strauss Foundation, and Louise and Alan Edwards Foundation. In addition to his experiences in clinical practice and research, Arthur is currently teaching pain management strategies as a part-time faculty member at Concordia University, and has also done some teaching previously at McGill University and Université de Montréal. Arthur is also a leader in his field, having been Chair of the Pain Science Division at the Canadian Physiotherapy Association in 2021-2023 where he led several initiatives including a national physiotherapy advocacy position paper in response to the Canadian Pain Task Force’s Action Plan for Pain in Canada. In 2023, Arthur opened his own solo practice, “The Chronic Pain Rehab Clinic”. See www.chronicpainrehab.ca for more info. Arthur has also done radio and podcast interviews, and the recordings are getting posted on his website.

Arthur Woznowski-Vu

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Information for this speaker is on the way!

Krissy Bell

FEBRUARY

Spontaneous Intracranial Hypotension – A curable cause of medically refractory headaches and chronic pain

Open to learners in the field of pain medicine, sessions will enhance medical education by promoting standardized pain management practices, fostering collaboration among those practicing pain medicine, and improving patient outcomes through evidence-based pain assessments and treatment practices.

JUNE

Presentation details coming soon

Open to learners in the field of pain medicine, sessions will enhance medical education by promoting standardized pain management practices, fostering collaboration among those practicing pain medicine, and improving patient outcomes through evidence-based pain assessments and treatment practices.

APRIL

Presentation details coming soon

Open to learners in the field of pain medicine, sessions will enhance medical education by promoting standardized pain management practices, fostering collaboration among those practicing pain medicine, and improving patient outcomes through evidence-based pain assessments and treatment practices.

Pain Rounds for Trainees

Our National Pain Rounds Committee

Our National Pain Rounds Committee is made up of experienced healthcare professionals who strive to uphold and maintain the integrity of the Canadian Pain Society as dedicated volunteers. 

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Co-Chair
Dr. Rachael Bosma

Dr. Rachael Bosma is a chronic pain scientist at Women’s College Hospital and the University of Toronto, where she serves as Director of the Centre for the Study of Pain. Her work integrates research, education, and clinical innovation to improve access to pain management and advance evidence-based care. With a focus on women’s health and chronic pain, she collaborates with clinicians, researchers, and patient partners to drive system-level change. Dr. Bosma is also deeply engaged in provincial and national initiatives, serving as Chair of the Board of Pain Ontario to strengthen support, education, and research for people living with pain.

Co-Chair
Dr. Helena Daudt

Director of Education at Pain BC/Pain Canada. She leads Pain BC/Pain Canada’s educational initiatives including Making Sense of Pain, a self-management program designed for people living with pain, who experience marginalization and face barriers to accessing care and support. As an educator and researcher, Dr Daudt has been supporting healthcare improvement through patient engagement and knowledge exchange in different settings. She is also a person living with chronic pain and brings the lived experience lens to the work she does. Dr Daudt is passionate about building capacity among people with lived experience, their support network, and healthcare providers to ensure people receive high-quality care and experience the best quality of life possible.

Co-Chair
Dr. Bradley Kerr

Dr. Bradley Kerr received his BSc in Psychology from McGill University. He then went on to obtain a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of London-King’s College in the UK. His PhD research was aimed at understanding the role of novel modulatory peptides, growth factors and pro-inflammatory cytokines in persistent pain. Dr. Kerr went on to do postdoctoral work at the California Institute of Technology and at McGill University where his work focused on studying inflammatory responses after nervous system injury. Dr. Kerr joined the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Alberta in 2007 and is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Psychiatry. The focus of research in his lab is aimed at addressing the mechanisms of chronic pain after injury or disease with a major focus on chronic pain associated with Multiple Sclerosis.


Dr. Eugene Maida

Assistant Clinical Professor in the Departments of Medicine (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation) with a cross appointment in the Department of Anesthesia at McMaster University. Dr. Maida is a physiatrist and interventional pain physician with a special interest in spine and musculoskeletal medicine. He completed his residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and later completed subspecialty training in the Pain Medicine residency program under the Department of Anesthesia at McMaster University. He has also completed a sports medicine research fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota, with a focus on Ultrasound Guided Musculoskeletal and Peripheral Nerve Interventions, as well as his diplomat in Sports and Exercise Medicine Physician through the Canadian Academy of Sports and Exercise Medicine (CASEM). Dr. Maida is currently the Medical Director of the Michael G. DeGroote pain clinic at McMaster University and Head of Service at Hamilton Health Sciences for Pain Behaviours for the department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. In addition to being the co-chair of National Pain Rounds for trainees, Dr. Maida is also part of the National Pain Rounds Committee.

Dr. Tania Di Renna

Dr. Tania Di Renna, Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, completed her medical school and Anesthesiology residency training in Ottawa. She obtained a chronic pain fellowship at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto and has spinal cord stimulation training from Montreal Neurological Institute. 

She is currently the Medical Director of the Toronto Academic Pain Medicine Institute (TAPMI). TAPMI is the comprehensive interdisciplinary academic pain program serving as the hub for chronic pain care in Toronto. She is also the Medical Director of the Chronic Pain Clinic at Women’s College Hospital and an Anesthesiologist at UHN. She served as the co-chair of the HQO Guidelines for Chronic Pain, is currently the co-chair of the Ontario Chronic Pain Network and Ontario Representative for Pain Canada.


Jennifer Daly-Cyr

Jennifer’s professional background is in marketing and strategic planning in higher education. Since a sudden onset of severe abdominal pain, she has been on a journey of learning to live with persistent acute episodes of pain and adapting to the dramatic changes this has brought to her daily life. She has leveraged her skills and experience to advocate, collaborate and share her perspective as a person with lived experience/patient partner/advisor with national and provincial pain research initiatives and projects, including with the Chronic Pain Network, Pain Ontario and the Canadian Pain Society. She advocates for the incorporation of the lived experience perspective into research, broadened awareness of chronic pain, improving understanding about the value of patient engagement in research and for improved access to health care and support for people living with pain.

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Dr. John Xavier Pereira

Previous President of the Canadian Pain Society, previous President of the Pain Society of Alberta, and a Founding Co-Chair of the Alberta Pain Strategy. He is a past Ronald Melzack Fellow of the McGill Pain Center and has spoken on the topic of chronic pain both nationally and internationally, including at the Centers for Disease Control, ANZCA Auckland, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Mayo Clinic. He represented Western Canada on the committee of physicians who wrote our country’s National Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of fibromyalgia. Dr. John Pereira was the physician lead of FibroFOCUS, an interdisciplinary chronic pain program that won a 2016 Patient Experience Award from the Health Quality Council of Alberta. He was a member of the Canadian Pain Task Force's External Advisory Panel and a current member of Pain Canada's National Advisory Council. He has personally visited more than sixty pain clinics worldwide to learn best practices.

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Dr. Brittany Rosenbloom

Dr. Brittany Rosenbloom is a Clinical and Health Psychologist based at the Toronto Academic Pain Medicine Institute in Women's College Hospital. Clinically, she was trained across the lifespan and approaches each person with a developmental and biopsychosocial lens. Dr. Rosenbloom is also an Associate Scientist in Women's College Hospital and an Assistant Professor (Status) in the Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine at the University of Toronto. She primarily studies pain, mental health concerns, and trauma. She is interested in the development of chronic pain conditions and the intersection with mental health from both a mechanisms perspective as well as treatment perspective.

Co-Chair
Dr. Eugene Maida

Assistant Clinical Professor in the Departments of Medicine (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation) with a cross appointment in the Department of Anesthesia at McMaster University. Dr. Maida is a physiatrist and interventional pain physician with a special interest in spine and musculoskeletal medicine. He completed his residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and later completed  subspecialty training in the Pain Medicine residency program under the Department of Anesthesia at McMaster University. He has also completed a sports medicine research fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota, with a focus on Ultrasound Guided Musculoskeletal and Peripheral Nerve Interventions, as well as his diplomat in Sports and Exercise Medicine Physician through the Canadian Academy of Sports and Exercise Medicine (CASEM). Dr. Maida is currently the Medical Director of the Michael G. DeGroote pain clinic at McMaster University and Head of Service at Hamilton Health Sciences for Pain Behaviours for the department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Dr. Maida has worked as a team physician with the McMaster University varsity soccer and football teams, Canadian Junior National Basketball Team (NEDA) and is currently the Head Team Physician for the Hamilton Tiger Cats (CFL). Dr. Maida is also actively involved in resident and medical school education. He currently serves as Section Coordinator for pain medicine teaching in the department Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Education Coordinator for the Pain Medicine residency program under the department of Anaesthesia. Dr. Maida is also the current Chair of the Anesthesia pain rounds, and Lecturer for undergraduate introductory pain session for McMaster University medical students. In addition to being the co-chair of National Pain Rounds for trainees, Dr. Maida is also part of the National Pain Rounds Committee.

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Co-Chair
Dr. David Clinkard

Dr. Clinkard is an anesthesiologist and pain medicine specialist based in Kingston Ontario. He did his anesthesia training at University of Toronto and his Pain Medicine residency at McMaster. Currently his research and clinical interests focus on peripheral joint pain and its treatments.

Our Trainee Chairs

A platform for innovative minds to bring forward inspiring ideas and discover solutions to help you in your mentorship programs.

Providing educational resources for learners in efforts to prepare the next generation of pain management clinicians for the full scope of practice opportunities, from basic science research transitioning into clinical practice.

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