UTCSP Pain Scientist Trainee Award
The UTCSP is committed to supporting the development of exceptional research trainees who will take future leadership roles in the field of pain science. The objective of this scholarship is to strengthen pain research and talent development through the provision of financial support for research training.
Application Deadline:
Applications, in full, are due Friday, May 16, 2025 without exception. Incomplete and/or late applications will not be reviewed. If you require an extension, please request one no later than 48 hours before the deadline by emailing utcsp@utoronto.ca. Extensions will only be considered in rare circumstances, and the length of the extension is at the discretion of UTCSP.
Value, Scope and Duration:
Scholarships will be awarded up to a maximum value of $12,500 per scholarship for a period of 1 year across graduate-level (i.e., Master’s or PhD student) and post-doctoral trainees. Graduate students may hold a maximum of two (2) UTCSP-adjudicated scholarships.
The scholarship will start in September 2025
Please find application details here.
Congratulations to our CPS Lottery Award Winners!
🎉 We Have Our CPS ASM Lottery Winners! 🎉
Five lucky trainees have won FREE registration to the Canadian Pain Society Annual Scientific Meeting (CPS ASM)! 🏆
Congratulations to our winners:
✨ Jeremy Steen
✨ Omar Khalil
✨ Ariana Seyed Makki
✨ Shehnaz Lahka
✨ Seyed Assad Karimi
We can’t wait to see you at the conference—get ready for an exciting event filled with learning, networking, and innovation in pain research!
kNOw-PAIN Conference 2025
kNOw-PAIN Conference 2025
March 31, 2025
Great Hall, Western University
9:00am-4:00pm
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Andrew Rice
ComSciConCAN Workshop 2025!
ComSciConCAN is Canada's first national science communication workshop for graduate students. This unique professional development program aims to help the next generation of leaders in STEM fields develop the skills needed to communicate their research and ideas to their peers, experts in other fields, policymakers, and the general public.
ComSciConCAN looks to bring the longstanding and successful ComSciCon framework from the United States to Canada. Since its establishment in 2013 by graduate students at Harvard University and MIT, the training opportunities offered by ComSciCon have benefited over 500 graduate students across the United States and Canada. What was once a single annual national meeting has expanded to numerous local ComSciCon workshops across the United States. In collaboration with other alumni and invited experts, former ComSciCon attendees have published over 80 articles written at these workshops, initiated new science communication endeavors, and built lasting professional networks.
To apply: CLICK HERE!
Upcoming Talk - Chris Eccleston
Please join us for this upcoming talk!
Christopher Eccleston, PhD.
https://christophereccleston.co.uk/
Chris is Professor of Medical Psychology and Pain Science at the University of Bath in the UK where he directs the Centre for Pain Research which is invested in behavioural science and behavioural medicine in chronic pain.
Chris has pioneered digital therapeutics in chronic pain and is the inventor of a Virtual Reality system for the management of chronic pain. He is particularly interested in service redesign and the introduction of expert systems into chronic pain management.
He has published over 300 peer reviewed scientific publications and is widely cited (web of science h-index of 86). In 2018, the International Association for the Study of Pain recognised the contribution Chris had made to pain research by awarding him the prestigious Ronald Melzack Award. In 2021 he was awarded the Patrick Wall Medal for contributions to pain science by the UK Faculty of Pain Medicine.
Chris founded and directed the Bath Pain Management Unit from 1994-2008, including the first residential paediatric pain programme. He continues to consult internationally on the development on new services and team training in chronic pain management. From 2009-2019 he was psychology editor for the journal PAIN, and from 2010 to 2020 he was coordinating editor of Pain, Palliative and Supportive Care Cochrane Review Group.
Chris has published three leading books in the field with Oxford University Press. In 2016 he published ‘Embodied: the psychology of physical perception’. In 2018 he co-edited an analysis of investments in pain treatment in 37 European countries, in the book ‘European Pain Management’. And, in 2020, working with Dr Elaine Wainwright, he published a ‘Work and pain: a lifespan development approach’.
He Led the Lancet Delivering transformative action in paediatric pain: a Lancet Child & Adolescent Health Commission (DOI: 10.1016/S2352-4642(20)30277-7)
QEII Awards Administered by RHSE
In 1998, the Ontario government introduced the Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarships in Science and Technology (QEII-GSST), a merit-based scholarship program targeted specifically toward graduate students in science and technology. The QEII-GSST (formerly known as OGSST) program is designed to encourage excellence in graduate studies in science and technology. The program is supported through funds provided by the Province of Ontario and by funds raised by the University of Toronto from the private sector. The province allocates QEII-GSST awards to universities by specifying the number of awards that each university may offer its students annually.
Official award offers will be made by the School of Graduate Studies (SGS) and communicated to awardees starting July 2025. The same application is used for both the 2025-26 Ontario Graduate Scholarships and QEII-GSST. Please read the application instructions carefully and review the FAQs.
CPN Professional Development and Training Award
The 2nd Professional Development & Training Award has now opened. This is an award opportunity that is specific to Trainees and People with Lived Experience within CPN. Deadline to apply is February 21st. See application link below for more details.
Apply here to CPN Professional Development & Training Award
If you have any questions, please contact us at cpn@mcmaster.ca
Upcoming Webinar - Trainee Forum for Enhancing Success in Basic and Translational Pain Research
Trainee Forum for Enhancing Success in Basic and Translational Pain Research
Tuesday, January 21, 2025 4:00 PM EST Register Here!
Join us for an insightful discussion offering advice on obtaining meaningful data, publishing impactful papers, securing research funding, and advancing your career trajectory. This session will have a particular focus on challenges and opportunities for visceral pain researchers, while also addressing broader topics relevant to pain researchers across disciplines. The mentors will share guidance tailored to basic, translational, and clinical research, enriched by their own experiences and professional journeys. Ample Q&A time will be provided for trainees and mentors seeking to enhance their research and career-development paths.Upcoming Webinar:
Trainee Forum for Enhancing Success in Basic and Translational Pain Research
Tuesday, January 21, 2025 4:00 PM EST Register Here!
Upcoming Talk - Vanessa Blackstone
Vanessa Blackstone is a therapist based in Los Angeles and a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. She serves as the Executive Director of the Pain Psychology Centre leading a team of 45 clinicians specializing in chronic pain, neuroplastic pain, and related symptoms. Vanessa has trained hundreds of providers in PRT and is deeply committed to advancing innovative approaches to pain recovery. Vanessa is the co-author of The Pain Reprocessing Therapy Workbook. Book signings will be available at the end of the lecture. Please purchase and bring your copy from retailers.
She is the co-author of The Pain Reprocessing Therapy Workbook, which provides evidence-based tools for patients and clinicians to address chronic pain through the mind-body connection.
Objectives:
1.Understand how PRT applies neuroplasticity to address chronic pain.
2.Gain insights from case studies on diverse symptom presentations and nervous system dynamics. 3.Learn practical strategies for integrating PRT into multidisciplinary care to improve patient outcomes.
- Hosted by the Rehabilitation Pain Service at UHN
- In person only, 550 University Avenue, Lecture theatre, basement of Toronto Rehab Institute.
- Monday, January 27, 2025, 4-5 pm
- SPACES ARE LIMITED. RSVP here!
Upcoming Talk - Luana Colloca
The Krembil Brain Institute (KBI) Neuroscience rounds are excited to welcome Dr. Luana Colloca as our esteemed speaker for our upcoming session. Please join us on Thursday, January 23rd from 8 to 9 am EST.
Dr. Colloca is an MPower Distinguished Professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and the Director of the Placebo Beyond Opinion Center at the University of Maryland School of Nursing. Dr. Colloca has conducted studies on the behavioral, neural, and pharmacological mechanisms of pain modulation related to placebo and nocebo effects. Her lab has also developed an interest in virtual reality as a non-pharmacological approach to relieving pain and other symptoms. She has published in top-ranked international journals, including Biological Psychiatry, Annual Reviews of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Nature Reviews Rheumatology, Pain, Nature Neuroscience, JAMA, The Lancet Neurology, Science, and The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). Her research has been cited over 19,800 times (H-index 64) and has been featured in National Geographic, The New Scientist, The Washington Post, Science Daily, The Boston Globe, The New Yorker, Nature, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report, and USA Today. Dr. Colloca has received the Dubner and Patrick Wall awards from the International Association for the Study of Pain and the UMB 2024 Researcher of the Year award, among others. She is committed to science dissemination, including podcasts (one with Jason Alexander of Seinfeld) and a TEDx talk.
