National Pain Rounds
See you in September! National Pain Rounds will be back after the summer.
A discussion between scientists, health professionals, educators, and pain advocates on a myriad of topics related to chronic pain. Offering a platform for innovative minds to bring forward inspiring ideas and discover solutions to help you in your practice.

March
Introducing the First National Health Standard for Pediatric Pain Management
The new pediatric pain management health standard was developed in partnership between Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP) and the Health Standards Organization. It is the first of its kind in Canada and globally, and responds to recommendations in Health Canada’s Action Plan for Pain in Canada (March 2021). The new pediatric pain management health standard provides guidance to health organizations on quality and equitable pediatric pain management across hospital settings that provide inpatient, procedural, and/or outpatient pain management services to children from birth to 19 years less one day. This presentation and discussion will introduce attendees to the pediatric pain management health standard structure and content, its development process, and its intended impact. Speakers include health professionals, standard development experts, and people with lived experience who contributed directly to the development of the pediatric pain management standard.
National Pain Rounds Archive
National Pain Rounds and other virtual events are NOT Medical Advice. These are discussions between scientists, health professionals, educators, and pain advocates. The views, opinions, and commentary of the presenters are for information purposes only and are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of a licensed healthcare provider before making any changes to your healthcare regimen.
"Nothing About Us, Without Us"
How people living with pain are driving change in pain care and pain policies.

Natasha Trehan is a university student pursuing Biomedical Science in the French Immersion Stream at the University of Ottawa. She founded the Take a Pain Check podcast in March 2021, which inspired her to establish the non-profit Take a Pain Check Foundation in October 2021. Take a Pain Check Foundation hosts podcasts, runs ambassador programs, and pilots events to empower young individuals with rheumatic diseases. Natasha is a trained patient researcher from the University of Calgary through the PaCER program. She is also actively involved in research and contributes to several Advisory Boards including Pain Canada, Choice Research Lab, and Arthritis Research Canada. Natasha has conducted research as a Research Student at renowned institutions such as the University Health Network and the Hospital for SickKids. In addition to her academic and advocacy endeavours, she enjoys hobbies such as singing, listening to music, dancing, and spending time with loved ones. She is committed to making a positive impact in the field of healthcare.
Natasha Trehan

The founder and Executive Director of the National Pain Advocacy Center. The National Pain Advocacy Center (NPAC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the health and human rights of people with pain. NPAC is a coalition of scientists and clinicians, health policy and civil rights experts, and a diverse community of people with lived experience. The organization takes no industry funding and focuses on addressing inequities based on race, disability, gender, LGBTQIA+ status, income, and age. Nicholson’s personal experience with intractable pain after a surgical injury that left her largely unable to sit, stand, or walk for two decades, led to her advocacy and the founding of NPAC. Nicholson is also a career civil and human rights attorney. She previously served in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice where career highlights include bringing a seminal case on protecting the rights of people with HIV and AIDS to healthcare that achieved victory in the U.S. Supreme Court, primarily drafting the current regulations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and litigating cutting-edge constitutional and health rights cases. She has spoken at TED, universities, and think tanks, offered solicited testimony in state legislatures, and briefed the U.S. Congress. Her advocacy work has been featured in the New York Times, Guardian, Washington Post, NBC News, Scientific American, BBC, Newsweek, NPR, ACLU’s At Liberty, and elsewhere. She has published in the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Hill, STAT, MedPage Today, the Journal of Public Health, JAMA, the American Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics, and law reviews. Nicholson also served as an appointed member of the Opioid Workgroup of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She is on the Global Advocacy Working Group for the International Association for the Study of Pain and has been provisionally appointed to the National Institutes of Health-based Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee (IPRCC). She was a Senior Fellow at Dartmouth College and a graduate of Harvard Law School.
Kate M. Nicholson

The President of The Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance, a national, volunteer, patient driven organization that has worked to improve the lives of people living with arthritis since 2002. She is co-chair of the Patient Engagement Committee for the Chronic Pain Strategy for Patient Oriented Research (SPOR) Network, as well as a member of The Steering Committee for The Evidence Alliance (SPOR) Network. Linda has participated in past Health Canada expert advisory panels and numerous conferences concerning treatment access and drug safety issues. She is a former member of both the Expert Advisory Committee for Vigilance of Health Products and the Drug Safety and Effectiveness Network's steering committee and was a person with lived experience of Chronic Pain on The Canadian Pain Taskforce.
Linda Wilhelm
National Pain Rounds Chairs
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. Our committee includes Jennifer Daly-Cyr (PWLE), Helena Daudt (PWLE & Pain Canada Director of Education), Eugene Maida, and Tania DiRenna.

Founding Co-Chair
Dr. John Xavier Pereira
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.

Founding Co-Chair
Dr. Nader Ghasemlou
An Associate Professor at Queen’s University, where he leads the Pain Chronobiology & Neuroimmunology Lab (ghasemloulab.ca) and serves as Director of Translational Pain Research at the Hotel-Dieu Hospital Chronic Pain Clinic. His research team works at the intersection of neuroimmunology, pain physiology, and circadian biology. Using various animal models of tissue injury and disease, including multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, postoperative wounds, and neuropathic nerve injury, the team seeks to better understand the molecular, cellular, and systems responses underlying human disease. The group is particularly focused on dissecting mechanisms underlying the generation and maintenance of inflammation in the central and peripheral nervous system. All projects in the lab include bioinformatics component to identify genes/pathways regulating cell function, and patient cohort studies which provide a translational component to our work. Nader completed his PhD at McGill University and was a CIHR Banting Fellow at Harvard Medical School. He is recipient of a CPS/Pfizer Early Career Award, a Brain Canada Future Leaders in Canadian Brain Research Award, and the Canadian Anesthesiology Society’s New Investigator Award. Projects in the Pain Chronobiology & Neuroimmunology Lab are currently funded by grants from CIHR, NSERC, the MS Society of Canada, and the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation. Nader also serves on the CPS Scientific Program and Membership & Engagement Committees; is co-chair of the Knowledge Translation Committee and sits on the Executive of the CIHR-SPOR Chronic Pain Network; and is a member of the Education & Training Committee of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada’s endMS Training Program.

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 of the National Pain Rounds For Trainees
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.

Co-Chair of the National Pain Rounds For Trainees
Dr. Avinash Sinha
An assistant professor in the department of anesthesia at McGill University Health Center. He was born in India, raised & educated in the United Kingdom (UK), thus his practice as a physician & clinical teacher reflects the apprenticeship style of clinical education in the UK. Subsequent to a productive Fellowship training year in Toronto [2002-3], he relocated to Montréal; awarded an academic staff [Professeur Selectionné] anesthesiologist position at McGill in 2005. Regarded as an approachable expert resource in [ultrasound guided] regional anesthesia for nurse, trainee & staff colleagues, he is responsible for successfully implementing multi-disciplinary teams for enhanced recovery programs. Actively involved in education in pain management strategies in both anesthesia and surgical residency training programs, he promotes an integrated approach to complex acute & acute on chronic pain management in a busy trauma center, leveraging the resources of both the chronic & acute pain experts. He has pursued a greater understanding of education principles, through educational certificate courses [Harvard], faculty development resources [McGill] & leadership development [PLI & McGill Executive institute] culminating in departmental leadership in Medical student supervision. Aiming to implement a modern educational paradigm, he is working to develop asynchronous learning materials to support learners, curating & developing videos & vignettes according to student defined needs. Currently he is exploring education from multiple different perspectives, through Knowledge Translation and Implementation Science in the development of inter- professional teams. To enhance learner engagement through agency & partnership, in collaboration with Teaching & Learning services at McGill & the McGill Anesthesia Interest group, he is publishing a medical student handbook.
Coming September 2023
National Pain Rounds for Trainees
Offering a platform for innovative minds to bring forward inspiring ideas and discover solutions to help you in your mentorship programs.
