Welcome to #EFIC2022

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I am proud to announce the 12th Congress of the European Pain Federation EFIC^® will be held in Dublin, Ireland from 27-30 April 2022. As Europe´s most important multi-disciplinary and multi-professional organisation in the field of pain science, we represent 37 constituent national pain societies with over 20,000 scientists, doctors, physiotherapists, nurses, psychologists, and other healthcare professionals. Our core domains of activity focus on education, research and advocacy.

On behalf of the Federation it gives me great pleasure to invite you to the most prestigious and largest pain meeting in 2022. Under the theme of ‘Targeting pain and its co-morbidities in the digital age” we are planning an ambitious programme of lectures, workshops, refresher courses and networking initiatives on acute, chronic, cancer and non-cancer pain. In addition to the latest developments in basic science, we will focus on pain management from the primary care physician’s perspective, as well as multimodal interdisciplinary care.

Professor Eija Kalso is leading an excellent, broad-based Scientific Programme Committee (SPC) building the in-person and virtual programme that will include established internationally known scientists, as well as younger fellows and postdocs. We all value the benefit of personal networking, and in Dublin you will once again be able to meet old friends, and hopefully develop new collaborative networks.

A comprehensive Industrial Exhibition, and sponsored Satellite Symposia, will perfectly complement the scientific content. On behalf of the European Pain Federation EFIC^®, I encourage you to join us for the most ambitious Pain Congress in 2022. Along with the Irish Pain Society local organising committee I look forward to offering you ‘céad míle fáilte’ (one hundred thousand welcomes) to the medieval city of Dublin, and to what we know will be our most successful meeting ever.

Kind regards,
Brona Fullen, PhD, MSc, BSc
President, European Pain Federation EFIC^®

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

We are very excited to invite you to Pain in Europe XII: the 12th Congress of the European Pain Federation EFIC, which will take place in Dublin, Ireland, on 27 – 30 April 2022. I am honoured to serve as Scientific Programme Committee Chair, and to set out my vision for the #EFIC2022 programme.

As our world becomes increasingly digital, our healthcare services will adapt and take advantage of the new opportunties this opens up. At the same time, our patients will continue to expect human contact. Big data, machine learning and artificial intelligence are transforming many aspects of economies and societies; what role will they play for pain medicine? With the average increase in life expectancy, as well as new treatments being available to cure or control different diseases, comorbidities are becoming more and more prevalent in most chronic diseases. As we are well aware, stress, insomnia, and depression are all comorbidities relevant to pain. Their study can open up new avenues of research that can lead us to make breakthroughs in the treatment of pain.

Taking into account these issues, our 2022 congress theme will be ‘Targeting pain and its comorbidities in the Digital Age´. In addition, we expect to focus on other burning issues such as new research methodologies and the limitations of existing research paradigms and the future of analgesics.

Pain in Europe XII will continue to focus on an interdisciplinary pain management, with a programme that benefits basic researchers, practicing physicians, as well as allied healthcare professionals. We are aware 2020 has been a challenging year for all. As unprecedented times require unprecedented actions, Pain in Europe XII will be organised as a hybrid model, incorporating and offering virtual elements based on the latest technology in the congress management sector along with well-known on-site aspects.

We are looking forward to welcoming you all in Dublin, Ireland. We hope the Congress will provide all participants with an unforgettable personal and professional experience.

Eija Kalso, M.D., Ph.D.
Chair of the Scientific Programme Committee
Pain in Europe XII – 12th Congress of the European Pain Federation EFIC