Editor’s note: In 2024, IASP is celebrating its 50th Anniversary, culminating at the IASP 2024 World Congress on Pain. To highlight this milestone, IASP is reflecting on its history and the advances and contributions made by its members over the past 50 years. Throughout the remainder of 2024, Pain Research Forum will be providing a series of podcasts featuring senior leaders in the field who have made major contributions to pain research and management, including those with major roles at IASP.
In this episode of the IASP-PRF Podcast, frequent PRF contributor Fred Schwaller spoke with Dr. John D. Loeser – a founder of IASP during its formal incorporation in 1974. During their wide-ranging conversation, Dr. Loeser spoke about his introduction to the field of pain research and management after meeting Dr. John J. Bonica and Dr. Wilbert “Bill” Fordyce, his role in the genesis of IASP during the International Symposium on Pain in Issaquah (Washington, USA), the state of pain education in current medical school curricula, and policy barriers that impact advances in the field. To learn more about Dr. Loeser and his indelible mark on the field of pain research and management, be sure to check out his recently published biography – John Loeser: The Man Who Reimagined Pain.
Podcast participants include:
- John D. Loeser, MD, University of Washington, USA
- Fred Schwaller, PhD, Berlin, Germany (host)
This podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts here and Spotify here.
John D. Loeser, MD, is professor, emeritus of Neurological Surgery and Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Washington (UW), USA, where he has been a faculty member since 1969. He was the director of the Multidisciplinary Pain Center at UW from 1982 to 1997, and was a founding member of the American Pain Society and the International Association for the Study of Pain. He has authored more than 400 peer-reviewed articles, 129 book chapters, and 8 books, and is keenly interested in multidisciplinary pain management and treatment strategies for those living with chronic pain.
Fred Schwaller, PhD, is a freelance science writer based in Germany.