Trends in pain research: The Society for Medicines Research Pain Meeting. March 24, 2011, Girton College, Cambridge, UK

Chronic pain represents a disorder of high unmet medical need. It can be a pain so excruciating that words fail to describe it and doctors cannot explain it, leading some patients to consider committing suicide. It can be described as a malfunction in the central nervous system (CNS), usually following injury to the peripheral nerves or to the CNS. This injury can result from direct damage to the nerves, for instance through amputation, or be triggered by medical conditions such as diabetic neuropathy, AIDS-related neuropathy, degenerative spinal disease and multiple sclerosis. It is a condition that is thought to effect over 25 million people worldwide, with a considerable associated cost to healthcare providers. In the past couple of decades, an important focus of research has been the study of novel pain mechanisms, particularly the biological pathways that lead to the abnormal sensitivity known as spontaneous pain and hyperalgesia. This symposium brings together experts from industry and academia from the U.K., the U.S. and Europe. Speakers covered the latest advances in understanding of new biological pathways, as well as findings from recent drug discovery programs.