US association for the study of pain annual scientific meeting - pain continues to be a significant health care problem because of its prevalence, its impact on those who suffer, and the absence of…

US association for the study of pain annual scientific meeting - pain continues to be a significant health care problem because of its prevalence, its impact on those who suffer, and the absence of consistently effective therapeutic options devoid of deleterious consequences. These issues will only be compounded with the aging of the US population and the increased incidence of pain in those over 60 years old. Any progress in addressing this growing problem will take a concerted effort from the basic scientists diligently working to understand pain mechanisms to the health care providers struggling to manage pain in their patients with limited tools and resources. IT not only takes a sustained effort from those already working to address this problem, but from subsequent generations of pain scientists as well. The US association for the study of pain (usasp) was formed to address these issues and continues to develop ways of doing so. One of our solutions to advance pain science is an annual scientific meeting organized to facilitate the dissemination of the latest advances in pain science and the interdisciplinary discussion of these advances, as well as the career development and mentoring of pain scientists and health care providers with a focus on early career scholars. To maximize our ability to achieve these goals, the usasp and the scientific meeting are organized around principles of diversity, equity and inclusion, where all interested in addressing the complex problem of pain are welcomed to participate. This application is for funds to support early career investigators to attend the usasp annual scientific meetings in 2024 thru 2028. Consistent with the broader goals of the usasp for the scientific meeting, the specific aims of this proposal are to 1) provide early career pain scholars with a national forum in which to learn about and discuss pain research findings that shape the direction of the field; 2) facilitate networking and career development for early career pain scholars with different pain science stakeholders (researchers, policymakers, clinicians, and patients); and 3) foster dialogue and collaboration between multiple pain science disciplines to develop innovative translational strategies to address current challenges in pain research and management. As the connections made early in a career pay dividends over the long term, we seek support for 60 early career pain scholars to participate in the yearly (2024-2028) conference, building a workforce that will contribute to pain science and ultimately safe and effective pain management in the future.