Editor’s note: Emeralda Burke is a health researcher, patient advocate, and a person with lived pain experience. In 2013, she moved from Ireland to Toronto, Canada, after completing a degree in medicinal chemistry. One year later, she was struck as a pedestrian by a stolen car and now lives with chronic pain. She quickly realized how prevalent, underfunded, and underserviced chronic pain can be in Canada. Emeralda shifted to pain research with a special interest in patient education, self-management, and program evaluation. Her advocacy work focuses on raising the public’s awareness of chronic pain, using her voice to illuminate gaps in health services. She shares her experience with healthcare providers in the hopes of improving the healthcare system. She is currently a researcher at the Toronto Academic Pain Medicine Institute, and is completing her master’s degree in health evaluation.
In the podcast below, recorded in September 2021, Emeralda speaks with PRF Correspondent Bhushan Thakkar, a PhD student at Virginia Commonwealth University, US. They discuss Emeralda’s lived experiences with pain, her role as a pain researcher and patient partner, her motivations for working as a patient advocate, and how pain scientists and researchers can meaningfully engage with patient partners in research and academia. Additionally, Emeralda talks about the importance of using a non-stigmatizing and non-judgmental approach to talk about chronic pain. This podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts here.
You can follow Emeralda Burke on Twitter: @EmeraldaBurke.