November Clean Sweep of Prizes for Centre for Pain Research at Irish Pain Society 2019

Researchers from NUI Galway’s Centre for Pain Research recently received prestigious prizes for their research at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Irish Pain Society 2019, continuing an impressive track record of success in these competitions. Researchers from the Centre won prizes in every research category at the event. 

Orlaith Mannion won best presentation at the Irish Pain Research Network short oral data blitz for her short presentation demonstrating that drugs which boost levels of the body’s own marijuana-like cannabinoids have potential for effective treatment of post-operative pain following groin hernia repair. Her work was supervised by Professor David Finn and Professor Brian McGuire.

Rachel Humphrey won the Irish Pain Society Preclinical Research Medal for her poster demonstrating that alterations in pain processing may be a feature of autism spectrum disorder symptomatology, and pinpointing brain regions that could be implicated. Her work was supervised by Dr Michelle Roche and Professor David Finn.

Mehnaz Ferdousi won second prize in the preclinical poster category for her Science Foundation Ireland funded research on the effects of novel opioid drugs on pain, anxiety and depression related behaviour. Her work was supervised by Professor David Finn, Dr Michelle Roche and Professor John Kelly.

Monika Pilch won the Irish Pain Society Clinical Research Medal for best clinical poster on how perspective-taking influences what we pay attention to when evaluating facial expressions of pain. Her work was carried out with Dr Denis O’Hora and Professor Brian McGuire.

Nessa Sweeney won second prize in the clinical poster category for her work examining the experience of young Irish mentors supporting adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, supervised by Dr Caroline Heary and Professor Brian McGuire.

The research competition was judged by a panel of international experts who commended the high quality of the research. 

Both co-directors of the Centre for Pain Research at NUI Galway also contributed to the event. Professor Brian McGuire delivered a keynote presentation on the assessment and management of pain in people with an intellectual disability, and Professor David Finn presenting in the Irish Pain Research Network Symposium on the values and challenges of preclinical models in translational research. They joined a number of other clinical experts and scientists from a range of professional disciplines such as pain medicine, surgery, nursing, physiotherapy and psychology in presenting their work to an audience of scientists and health practitioners.

Marking the Global Year against Pain in the Most Vulnerable, the meeting heard about challenges and opportunities in identifying and treating pain, and new and innovative approaches in research and clinical practice.

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