QSPainRelief: QSPainRelief is an international collaborative research project funded by European Commission that brings together 10 partner institutions from 5 European countries and the United States of America. The 5-year project started in January 2020 and uses an innovative quantitative systems pharmacology (QSP) approach to pain relief to develop an effective combination treatment for chronic pain in individual patients. We PAE are part of the scientific and Ethical Advisory Board of the QSPainRelief project.
European Brain Council (EBC) Value of Treatment (VoT): the EBC VoT case study on Chronic Pain started on December 2, 2020 with the first meeting of the working group composed of experts from European Academy Neurology (EAN), European Pain Federation (EFIC) and patient experts from Pain Alliance Europe (PAE). The results of the two-year case study at Chronic Pain will be published by the end of 2022 and translated into policy recommendations. These will be used for advocacy purposes and will help to improve the quality of life of people with chronic pain.
European Pain Forum: PAE is pleased to be one of the supporters of European Pain Forum along with European Pain Federation and other organisations. The European Pain Forum aims to unite all medical, scientific and patient organisations involved in pain. Its vision is to alleviate the suffering of people living with pain through an interprofessional approach that takes into account the biological, psychological and psychosocial aspects as well as the patient perspective, professional and socioeconomic factors.
European Civic Prize on Chronic Pain: The EU project Civic Prize of the Active Citizenship Network on Chronic Pain – Collecting good practises aims to highlight existing good practises in the management of pain across Europe. PAE is part of this project as a member of the jury composed of international experts on chronic pain (from universities, health professionals and provider organisations, citizens’ and patients’ associations, etc.) who will select the winners.
iPspine: The EU-funded iPSpine consortium consists of 21 partners and aims to develop a novel therapy to cure low back pain (LBP) due to disc degeneration, which is responsible for at least 40% of all cases of low back pain. At the end of the project, the therapy is expected to be in the early stages of preclinical testing in dogs suffering from low back pain. PAE is a member of Patient Advisory Board (PAB) through PAE member Liisa Jutila.
OECD PaRIS Working Group on Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) for Hip Replacement and Knee Replacement Surgery: The working group was constituted in April 2020. In 2020, some meetings were held virtually via web or video conference. The term of the current working group will continue until the publication of the report and recommendations to the HCQO Working Group, expected in late 2021.
ITN ETUDE: ETUDE stands for “Encompassing Training in Functional Disorders across Europe”. This programme aims to identify underlying mechanisms, improve diagnosis and treatment, and reduce stigma for patients with functional disorders. Functional Disorders (FD) are clusters of chronic somatic symptoms that currently cannot be linked to reproducibly observable pathophysiological mechanisms. Functional limitations are as severe in FD as in well-defined chronic physical illnesses. Direct medical costs and indirect costs as a consequence of sick leave and work disability are high. ETUDE is recruiting 15 ESRs in the 10 academic and 1 non-academic institutions that make up the network, spread across six countries (Netherlands, Germany, UK, Denmark, Poland and Italy). In addition, 19 academic and non-academic partner organisations will support the training and secondment of ESRs. PAE will host some of these students/researchers in our Brussels office in 2022.
CHANGE PAIN: CHANGE PAIN.com is an open-access website that aims to create practical tools to help patients and healthcare professionals better manage pain. A initiative supported by European Pain Federation, EFIC, The European Society of Regional Anesthesia & Pain Therapy (ESRA) and Pain Alliance Europe (PAE).
EFIC Health Literacy Campaign: Health literacy is the theme chosen by the new president of European Pain Federation, Brona Fullen, for the presidential campaign. The ‘Plain Talking’ health literacy campaign is aimed at both clinicians and people living with pain. Over the next three years, the Health Literacy Working Group will raise awareness of the concept and impact of health literacy. It will also focus on improving communication between people living with pain and clinicians by developing a range of materials and useful resources for all.
