The charge of the Advocacy Committee is to recommend positions and/or action on issues of importance to the USASP. The committee will scan state and federal initiatives and pending legislation or legal decisions that fall within the mission of USASP and advise the Board of Directors regarding recommendations, positions, and/or actions required. This committee will appoint/elect a Chair and co-Chair to facilitate projects. One or both individuals are strongly encouraged to become members and/or attend meetings of the Partnerships Committee to enhance communication between the committees and support collaboration on projects that align with both committee’s charges when appropriate.

This committee oversees awards for USASP members that recognize achievements in the field of Pain Research. The committee will develop and recommend new USASP awards to the Board of Directors for presentation at the annual meeting. The committee will oversee the call for nominations for awards, review candidates and make recommendations to the Board for each award. The committee will oversee the organization and presentation of poster awards at the annual meeting. For the 2024 USASP Meeting, the committee developed the Gold-Haythornthwaite Lifetime Achievement Award and oversaw the organization and presentation of early career investigator poster presentation awards.

The Committee on Committees identifies and proposes the names of and terms of all committee chairs and members to the Board of Directors. Recommendations are made to ensure diversity, including race, gender, age, and geographic and professional diversity across committees and within each committee. Its Charter can be viewed (HERE).

The Communications Committee guides USASP initiatives and programs to engage a broad audience, including the public, educators, health care providers, researchers, and government officials about pain research and treatment. Members are required to attend monthly meetings and contribute to social media management tasks (e.g. creating and posting content). This past year, we broadened our influence on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook and launched a new podcast (Click here to see episodes). We supported the success of the annual USASP conference by publishing daily highlights and short interviews with conference attendees. For this year, we aim to work with other USASP committees toward shared goals and increase social media engagement. If you’re interested in contributing to these projects please apply to join the Communications Committee.

The Continuing Education Task Force has been charged with investigating the need, feasibility, and cost of integrating continuing education (CE) programs into the organization’s educational programming. This task force will evaluate potential audiences and options and provide strategic recommendations to the board on whether and how to integrate CE programs into the organization. The goal is to enhance the professional development of members and ensure the highest standards of education in pain research and management.

The Education and Professional Development Committee was established to support and enhance the education and professional development of pain research and clinicians at all stages of their careers.

There are four highly active subcommittees:

1) Early Career Form Planning Subcommittee: Starting in fall, this subcommittee begins planning activities for the Early Career Forum, a half-day event that occurs prior to the annual scientific meeting.

2) Webinar Subcommittee: This subcommittee plans monthly webinars on various pain-related topics. In addition to planning, members have opportunities to facilitate discussion with speakers.

3) Leadership Academy Subcommittee: The Leadership Academy aims to develop the next generation of leaders in the pain field. Members of this working group will evaluate applicants for the Leadership Academy, work on refining the curriculum, and conduct program evaluations. The committee works to increase and enhance diversity and inclusion within USASP, by advancing the needs of all audiences, ensuring accessibility for all pain researchers and clinicians.

4) Certificate Program Task Force (*NEW): This Task Force has been charged with recommending to the board a plan for developing basic and advanced educational content for the pain community. Content may include pain “basics,” pain assessment, and methodologies used in the full range of pain research from basic science to dissemination. To ensure the involvement of senior members in creating and delivering advanced content and expand virtual educational offerings to provide more flexibility and accessibility for members.

During the application submission, please select which subcommittees you would like to participate in if selected to serve on this committee.

Time Commitment: The full committee meets quarterly. Subcommittees typically meet every 1-2 months.

The IDEA committee strives to help build and maintain an inclusive, diverse environment where differences of opinion, beliefs, and values are sought, listened to, respected, and valued. Through IDEA efforts, USASP is dedicated to expanding membership, participation, and leadership that reflect our broad membership. The USASP IDEA committee will be responsible for identifying ways to build and maintain an inclusive organization where differences of opinion, beliefs, and values are sought, listened to, respected, and valued. It will also be responsible for providing resources, consultation, and feedback to USASP committees, volunteers and members in order to support their efforts toward building and maintaining an inclusive, welcoming environment within the organization. Lastly, it will be responsible for assisting in the development and implementation of IDEA events and initiatives at USASP Scientific Meetings to build a more diverse and inclusive meeting.

The primary charge of this committee is to contribute to the growth of a multidisciplinary membership of diverse pain science professionals, patients, and patient advocates through the recruitment of new members and retention of existing members. The Membership Committee oversees the development of policies and procedures regarding the membership application process, monitors the values and needs of members, and works with other USASP committees to enhance the membership experience and ensure programming serves the growing interests of its members.

The primary charge of this committee is to solicit nominees for USASP board and Officers. The Committee will generate the wording for the call for nominees to ensure that those running for elected positions represent the disciplines and composition of the membership. The committee will evaluate each nominee for qualifications and then present to the Association membership the names of all qualified candidates for election to the Board and to the Officers of the Association.

The charge of the Organizational Partnerships Committee is to develop a network of partnerships with other professional societies and patient groups interested in working with the USASP to support pain research, management, and education. The committee evaluates and recommends opportunities for collaboration to the Board of Directors and, once approved, develops a process for executing the collaboration with the identified partners.

We are seeking passionate individuals to join the newly formed Peoples with Lived Experience (PWLE) Committee. This committee will play a pivotal role in integrating the perspectives of People with Lived Experience (PWLE) of pain into USASP’s initiatives. Committee members will collaborate with USASP leadership to implement recommendations from the Patient Involvement Task Force. The PWLE Committee aims to foster collaboration among USASP members, People with Lived Experience, healthcare providers, researchers, educators, and advocates.

The Project Collaborations Committee evaluates and oversees invitations for collaboration with other groups, including but not limited to policy statements or briefs, guideline development, and endorsement of best practice recommendations, guidelines, or resources. The Committee makes recommendations to the Executive Committee regarding USASP participation, and when approved, solicits volunteers and makes recommendations of individual(s) to represent USASP to the Board for final approval.

The Scientific Programming Committee (SPC) is recruiting new members to join the 2024-2025 committee. The 2025 USASP Meeting will be held in Chicago April 29th-May 2nd.

One of the unique strengths of USASP is the diversity of our membership, and the SPC composition should reflect the variety of backgrounds, training, research, and clinical expertise in our organization. In the upcoming year, the SPC commitment will be 1-2h per month of scheduled meetings for scientific program planning.

Our tasks will be centered around 1) identifying the theme for the upcoming annual scientific meeting; 2) identifying and recruiting selected plenary speakers; 3) reviewing and selecting symposia; 4) reviewing and selecting poster abstracts; and 5) reviewing and selecting travel awards.

This USASP committee is tasked with reviewing applications for the USASP-MAYDAY Clinical/Translational Research Award. The Small Grants Review Committee will review research proposals annually, and the USASP Board of Directors will make final funding decisions based on the committee's recommendations. Committee members will be investigators who are experienced in conducting pain research involving human subjects, and most will have received external funding for this research. At least one committee position will be reserved for an early-career investigator who has not yet successfully competed for external funding. All eligible investigators are encouraged to apply to enable the committee to be dedicated to diversity, inclusion, and equity in its work.

The Sponsorship Committee helps the USASP Board make decisions regarding engagement with external funders of USASP activities. This includes but is not limited to advising on policy, reviewing conflict of interest disclosures, and fundraising.