Research Manager at NSW Regional Health Partners, Connor Gleadhill, was one of only 30 researchers across the country selected to attend painSTAR 2022.
Joined by Australia’s top researchers for pain management, Connor’s novel work in the pain research space, coupled with his unique experience working with end users to establish a translational network, is what gained him an invite to the inaugural event held in Adelaide.
Connor is the driving force behind the Physio Research in Practice Network (link to web) and works with NSW Regional Health Partners to improve health outcomes for people in regional and rural NSW. The physiotherapy network includes over 50 physiotherapists, researchers, and other stakeholders committed to improving local care outcomes through the generation of high quality, clinically relevant, translational research.
A first of its kind ‘pain school’ established by the Australian Pain Society (APS) and supported by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), painSTAR 2022 aimed to bring together industry experts to collaborate, solve issues and get multiple perspectives on improving outcomes for people living with pain.
“It was a great opportunity to be part of this collaborative ‘think tank’ and connect with fantastic discovery scientists to design new ways to solve health and lifestyle problems for people who live with pain.
“I was also privileged to have been able to share my learnings since establishing the physiotherapy network to help those interested in research co-production and improving research translation,” said Connor.
Since attending painSTAR, Connor has been appointed as the NSW Director of Australian Pain Society (APS) by the APS President and was also awarded a policy scholarship from Deeble Institute.
The policy scholarship will focus on strengthening the allied health workforce in primary care and address issues in dealing with musculoskeletal and chronic health conditions.
Following the event, Connor is collaborating with several local researchers on improving the health outcomes of people with lower back pain, musculoskeletal conditions and other chronic conditions.
“There is a lot of research into pain and how to solve it. Now we need to make sure that research is translated into care, so that we can see real improvements to people’s lives. It’s important that we start the conversation on how best to effectively translate research findings,” said Connor.
To learn more about painSTAR please visit painstar (eventsair.com)
