Pain in Child Health

Pain in Child Health (PICH) is an innovative cross disciplinary research training consortium that originally linked research centres in 5 cities across Canada and created a community of scholars in pediatric pain. The consortium has expanded, with funding from Mayday Foundation in New York,to include mentors and trainees from around the world. The trainees in PICH are becoming the next generation of pediatric pain researchers. They have published over 370 peer-reviewed papers during the first phase of PICH. We continue to create a virtual community of pediatric pain research training centres using information technology, trainee exchanges and a summer/fall institute. Pain in infants and children is of critical importance both because of its immediate biological, psychological and social effects and because of the potential long term effects on pain sensitivity and on learning and social functoning. PICH faculty have been at the forefront of research in this area and this initiative has lead to significant strengthening of the skills of trainees and an increase in the number of highly qualified personel in this area. These are the prerequisites for further advances in the science of pediatric pain. The consortium has garnered strong support from its academic and industry partners and the international community. The training consortium familiarizes trainees with knowledge that is outside their own focus and fosters cross fertilization and greater collaboration across disciplines and across centres. This initiative will create new understanding of how to protect our most vulnerable citizens from the scourge of unnecessary pain.

The Team: