January/February 2026

• NPAC’s Executive Director spoke about advocacy for pain at the Southern Pain Society’s Annual Scientific Meeting in New Orleans.

• NPAC’s Executive Director was invited to serve as a committee member of the NIH Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) Initiative Multi-Disciplinary Working Group (MDWG), from 2026-2030.

• NPAC Board Member Dawn M. Gibson participated in the IASP’s Global Alliance of Partners for Pain Advocacy (GAPPA) meeting as part of her ongoing involvement with the initiative. 

• NPAC’s Executive Director participated in the IASP’s Task Force on Animal Testing, an international Delphi process to develop new ethical guidelines for animal testing in pain research.

• NPAC’s Executive Director spearheaded a successful symposium proposal for the World Congress on Pain examining what multidisciplinary pain care means in different countries around the globe.