Experts and patients meet to tackle Scotland’s chronic pain
Published On Wed 16 Mar 2016 by Roddy Isles
The latest developments in tackling chronic pain suffered by people across Scotland will be discussed at a meeting of experts and patients this week at the University of Dundee.
The Scottish Pain Research Community (SPaRC) 6th annual scientific meeting, taking place on Friday March 18th, is the country’s major gathering of experts in pain management and relief, with patients also playing a key part.
“Chronic pain is common to many major diseases and conditions and affects hundreds of thousands of people across Scotland,” said Dr Lesley Colvin, Consultant/Reader in Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh and Chair of SPaRC.
“In Scotland, there is a great deal of research being carried out as to how we can better understand and manage pain for patients. Just as importantly, and a crucial feature of what is happening in Scotland, we now have the mechanisms in place that mean we can apply the results of that research effectively for the benefit of patients.
“Our meeting will look at a wide range of current Scottish research around the causes and treatment of pain, from new discoveries at the molecular level that aim to aid development of new drugs to manage pain, to wider population-based studies relating to prescribing patterns across Scotland.
“We will also hear how this work ties in with the ongoing national plan for chronic pain provision in Scotland.”
Among the keynote speakers at the event will be Dr Suellen Walker from University College, London, who will discuss the long-term impact of pain in babyhood; and the internationally renowned Professor Irene Tracey, from the University of Oxford, who will give updates on our understanding of pain from her research using advanced brain imaging.
The 6th Annual Scientific Meeting of SPaRC takes place at West Park Conference Centre in Dundee on Friday March 18th.
Presenters will be delivering 15-minute talks or posters to an audience that will include researchers, patients and service users.
For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
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University of Dundee
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Email: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk