The Pain Relief Foundation Annual Lecture Series
The Pain Relief Foundation started the Annual Lecture as a Millennium project. Each year an eminent pain physician or scientist is invited to lecture on a topic currently of interest, in pain research or management. The lecture is given each year in honour of a person who contributed much to the field of pain treatment or research during his or her career. A short presentation about their life and work is given before the lecture by a fellow academic or clinician.
The inaugural lecture was given by Russell Portenoy in the year 2000.
2024
The Placebo Effect
To honour the life and work of Ken Hardy and Keith Budd.
This years lecture was given by Professor Fabrizio Benedetti, professor of physiology and neuroscience at the University of Turin Medical School in Turin, Italy and a researcher in the field of placebo studies. His research findings include the placebo effect reducing symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, pain and hypoxia. Professor Benedetti has written multiple book chapters and his research is published in leading scientific journals where he has been highly cited. He is considered to have influenced the scientific community in the placebo and nocebo response, making research in this area ‘respectable’ throughout his career, Professor Fabrizio has won numerous academic awards from worldwide institutions. He is regularly interviewed on podcasts for comment on his research into the psychosocial factors that can generate illness. He is a member of the Academy of Europe and the European Dana Alliance for the Brain. His book Placebo Effects: Understanding the mechanisms in health and disease won the British Medical Association’s Highly Commended Book Award. He often speaks at international conferences on neuroscience and the placebo effect.
Keith Budd was a member of council of the Royal College of Anaesthetists and an examiner for the Fellowship examination. He set up the first Pain Service in Bradford, which became internationally recognised. He was a president of the British Pain Society. He published over 100 papers on analgesic pharmacology and pain medicine, wrote several books and was the founding editor of Pain Reviews. He was an international expert on opioid analgesics. He retired in 1997 and died in 2020. A tribute was given by Dr Tim Nash.
Ken Hardy was appointed consultant anaesthetist at Bangor hospital in 1962 and set up the first pain clinic in Wales. He was elected to the presidency of the British Pain Society. He served as medical officer on Korean war troop ships. He was appointed the commissioning officer for the new Ysbyty Gwynedd district general hospital. He set up the Bangor branch of the Samaritans. He was admitted into the Gorsedd, the Bardic Circle of the National Eisteddfod, a great honour for any Welshman. He died in 2020. A tribute was given by Dr Kate Grady
2023
Using a stratified medicine approach to improve understanding, diagnosis and treatment of Neuropathic Pain.
In honour of the life of Professor Stephen McMahon & Professor William Campbell.
This years lecture was given by Professor David Bennett Professor of Neurology and Neurobiology at the University of Oxford. His clinical focus has been in the management of peripheral neuropathy, neuropathic pain and painful channelopathies. His work has helped to understand the fundamental principles of sensory transduction and transmission and led to new diagnostic tests and personalised pain management . Professor Bennett has shown leadership in large international consortia. As vice-director of ‘Europain’ and director of ‘DOLORisk’ he harmonised the recruitment and deep phenotyping of the largest ever cohort of neuropathic pain patients in Europe
The lecture this year was given in honour of Stephen McMahon & William Campbell.
Stephen McMahon was Sherrington Professor of Physiology in Wolfson CARD, was an inspirational scientist to colleagues and students alike. He was a prolific researcher, publishing more than 300 original research articles, and was co-editor of the Textbook of Pain. His work has been published in leading scientific journals such as Nature, Nature Medicine, Science, Nature Neuroscience, Cell, Neuron and Brain. He was an Elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 1999 and the recipient of the British Neuroscience Association’s Outstanding Contribution to Neuroscience award in 2019.
William Ian Campbell was from Northern Ireland. He was Secretary and then a President of the British Pain Society. He was one of few people who worked in anaesthesia, intensive care medicine, and especially in chronic pain management. As a keen and professional standard photographer, he charted many BPS events and meetings. He was acclaimed as a teacher, a mentor, and a writer.
A short appreciation of Stephen McMahons life was given by Professor Anthony Dickenson is Professor of Neuropharmacology at University College, London. He gained his PhD at the National Institute for Medical Research, London, has held Fellowships and posts in Paris, California and Sweden, and was appointed to the Department of Pharmacology at University College in 1983. He has made seminal contributions to understanding the mechanisms of pain and how pain can be controlled in both normal and patho-physiological conditions and how to translate basic science to the patient.
An appreciation of William Campbells life was given by Dr Arun Bhaskar is a leading consultant in pain medicine in London, who holds a special interest in complex pain, including neuropathic pain, cancer pain, visceral and pelvic pain,pain interventions and neuromodulation. He also holds a particular interest in opioid management in complicated cancer pain and opioid dependence and its management in the pain patient pop.
2021
56 Years On – Are We Nearer to Closing the Pain Gate?
In honour of the life and work of Professor Ron Melzack
This is the twenty-first of an annual series of lectures to honour those who have made an outstanding contribution to the treatment and study of chronic pain. This years lecture was given by Claudia Sommer, Professor of Neurology at the University of Wurzburg, Germany. Prof Claudia Sommer is currently the President of the International Association for the Study of Pain. She holds Neuropathic Pain Clinics and her main research interest is in the pathophysiology of neuropathic pain. She is active in the development of national and international guidelines, for example on the fibromyalgia syndrome, on neuropathies, neuropathic and facial pain, and on the use of opioids. She has written more than 250 original research papers and more than 100 reviews and book chapters and has edited books on neuropathic and facial pain.
The lecture this year was given in honour of Ron Melzac was Professor of Psychology at McGill University, Montreal. He and Patrick Wall revolutionised pain research by introducing the gate control theory of pain in 1965, which lead to the discovery of enkephalins and endorphins. He developed the McGill Pain Questionnaire and was a founding member of IASP in 1973. He died aged 90 in 2019.
A short appreciation of Ron Melzack’s life and work was given by Daniel Carr, a Professor Emeritus of Public Health and Community Medicine at Tufts Medical Centre, Boston, and was Saltonstall Professor of Pain Research. He is known internationally for his contributions to pain research, evidence-based pain medicine, and to the social and political aspects of pain.
2019
“Of a painful affection of the face”- Fothergill 1773
Professor Turo Nurmikko was a Pain Consultant at Walton Centre from 1995 and appointed the inaugural Professor of Pain Science at Liverpool in 2001 before retiring in 2011. He is a neurologist specialising in Pain Medicine. He was a founding member and President of the SIG in Neuropathic Pain of the IASP. He founded the Facial Pain Clinic at the Walton Centre with Professor Eldridge. He participated in many international guidelines on diagnosis and treatment of trigeminal neuralgia and has published extensively in this area.
In honour the life and work of Professor John Miles
The lecture this year is given in honour of Professor John Miles who was a neurosurgeon at Walton from 1971 to 2008. He developed sub-specialisation within Neurosurgery in his own area of Functional Neurosurgery – which is movement disorders, epilepsy and chronic pain. He practiced lesional therapies for pain before technology made these obsolete and then became a pioneer of spinal cord stimulation for chronic pain. He was a co-founder of the Pain Relief Foundation in 1979. He introduced microvascular decompression for trigeminal neuralgia into regular UK clinical practice. He published extensively on microvascular decompression for trigeminal neuralgia; especially in areas of its neurophysiology and MRI imaging.
This year a short appreciation of his life and work was given by Professor Paul Eldridge a Consultant Neurosurgeon at the Walton Centre Liverpool and Dr Chris Wells Specialist in Pain Medicine, Algarve, Portugal
2018
Embodied Pain: psychological science and chronic pain
Chris Ecclestone is Professor of Medical Psychology at the University of Bath, UK, where he also directs the Centre for Pain Research. He established the highly respected Bath Pain Management Unit in 1995, developing intensive treatment programmes for both adults and adolescents with chronic pain. He is chair of the science committee for the European Pain Federation. This year he received the prestigious IASP Ronald Melzack Award.
In honour of the life and work of Professor Stephen Morley
This is the nineteenth of an annual series of lectures to honour those who have made an outstanding contribution to the treatment and study of chronic pain. Stephen Morley was a highly respected researcher committed to advancing the rigour and quality of research in psychological treatments for pain. He supervised many trainees’ research, inspiring many to a career in research. He published extensively. He edited the British Journal of Clinical Psychology. He was awarded an honorary membership of the International Association for the Study of Pain – a rare honour. He died in 2017 aged 67.
This year a short appreciation of his life and work was given by Tamar Pincus, Professor of Health Psychology at Royal Holloway, University of London.
2017
Cannabis, medical research, pain relief and the law
David Finn is Professor of Pharmacology and Therapeutics and Co-Director at the Centre for Pain Research at the University of Galway Ireland.
In honour of the life and work of Dr Mark Swerdlow
This is the eighteenth of an annual series of lectures to honour those who have made an outstanding contribution to the treatment and study of chronic pain. This years lecture was given by David Finn Professor of Pharmacology and Therapeutics and Co-Director at the Centre for Pain Research at the University of Galway Ireland. His research aims to increase the understanding of the neurobiology of pain and psychiatric disorders including anxiety and depression, with an emphasis on the endogenous cannabinoid, opioid and monoaminergic systems. He is currently President of the Irish Pain Society and sits on the Scientific Advisory Panel of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology. He has published 115 peer reviewed articles.
Mark Swerdlow created the specialty of Pain Medicine in Great Britain. He was responsible for the formation of the Intractable Pain Society (IPS) fifty years ago, in 1967, which was later rebranded the British Pain Society. Born and bred in Manchester he set up one of the first Pain Clinics in the world in 1955 at Salford Hospital. He died in 2003 aged 84.
This year a short appreciation of his life and work was given Tim Nash, Consultant in Pain Medicine at The Walton Centre from 1995-2006. From 1994-1997 he was President of the British Pain Society, having been a Member of Council from 1982. He is a Trustee of the Pain Relief Foundation
Also Sir Michael Bond gave a short speech to celebrate 50 years of the British Pain Society . Michael Bond was Professor of Psychological Medicine at the University of Glasgow from 1973 to 1998. He was knighted for his services to Medicine in 1995. He was President of the British Pain Society from 1999 to 2001 and Interim President from 2009 to 2010. He was President of IASP from 2002 to 2005. He is a Patron of the Pain Relief Foundation
2016
Joint Management for Joint Pain : bridging Rheumatology and Pain Research
Professor Serge Perrot is a rheumatologist and a pain specialist. He currently heads the Pain Centre of Cochin Hospital, in Paris, France.
In honour of the life and work of Professor Jean-Marie Besson
This is the seventeenth of an annual series of lectures to honour those who have made an outstanding contribution to the treatment and study of chronic pain. Jean-Marie Besson died in 2014. He was a founding member and later president (1996-99) of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP). He was an inspirational pain neuroscientist whose pioneering work included identification of descending pain control and the effect of morphine on the dorsal horn.
This year a short appreciation of his life and work will be given by Anthony Dickenson, Professor of Neuropharmacology in the Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology at University College London, who worked with, and was inspired by Professor Besson
2015
New NeTricks for an Old Molecule;Buprenorphine as an effective exit strategy for Problem Opioid Use
Dr. Doug Gourlay Former Director of Pain and Chemical Dependency , Toronto, Canada
In honour of Professor Vittorio Ventafridda
This year’s lecture was given by Dr Doug Gourlay who is an anesthesiologist and former Director of Pain and Chemical Dependency at the Wasser Pain Management Centre at Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto Canada. He specialises in the assessment and management of pain and addictive disorders. Dr Gourlay’s area of expertise is in chronic opioid therapy for the treatment of malignant and non-malignant pain.
Professor Vittorio Ventafridda was one of the founders of IASP in 1973. In partnership with Virgilio Floriani, Prof Ventafridda founded the Floriani Foundation to help terminally ill patients. Later, with the help of that foundation, he created a continuing-care programme for terminally ill patients that became a key component of the WHO Cancer Pain Relief Programme
2014
From Spinal Cord Stimulation to Neurostimulation for Chronic Neuropathic Pain.
Dr Jean-Pierre van Buyton, Belgium
In Honour of Professor Wlliam Sweet
Dr Jean-Pierre Van Buyten is a Consultant in Anaesthesia and Pain Management and the Director of the Multidisciplinary Pain Centre at Nikolaas Hospital in Belgium. For many years he has been at the forefront of developing, trialling and successfully using a range of neuromodulation techniques for the treatment of intractable chronic pain, and he has published extensively in this field.
William Sweet was a pioneering functional neurosurgeon specialising in intractable pain management and the 3rd President of the American Pain Society. He wrote the seminal surgical textbook on neurosurgery for pain. This year a short appreciation of his life and work will be given by Dr Chris Wells.
2013
Evidence Based Interventional Treatment
Professor Maarten van Kleef, Maastrict University Pain Centre, the Netherlands
In Honour Of Professor Ainsley Iggo
Maarten van Kleef is a Professor in the Department of Anaesthesiology and Pain Management at Maastrict University and Head of Pain Research. He specialises in interventional pain medicine and is extensively published in this area. He has embarked on systematically reviewing interventional pain medicine procedures.
Professor Ainsley Iggo was a prominent researcher in Edinburgh, who discovered nociceptions and was instrumental in outlining their function and characteristics. The discovery provided a major advancement in pain science. He was a founding member of IASP, and he was the IASP President from 1981 to 1984. A short appreciation of his life and work was given by Vince Moloney.
2012
Low Back Pain: Nociceptive, neuropathic and mixed components
Professor Giorgio Cruccu, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
IN HONOUR OF Dr David Bowsher
Giorgio Cruccu is Professor of Neurology at Sapienza University in Rome. His main research interests include the neurophysiology of pain and the human trigeminal system. He was part of the EFNS Panel on Neuropathic Pain.
David Bowsher was a prominent researcher in the field of chronic pain. He was co-Founder of the Pain Relief Foundation and the Pain Research Institute in Liverpool and for his work on chronic pain, the City of Liverpool awarded him the prestigious ‘Citizen of Honour’ award. David was a founding member of IASP. A short appreciation of his life and work was given by Professor Jackie Campbell from the University of Northampton, who worked with David in Liverpool.
2011
Drug Trials & Tribulations: An evidence based approch to clinical trial design
Robert Dworkin, University of Rochester Medical Centre, USA
In HONOUR OF Dr. Ed Charlton
Robert Dworkin is Director of the Anaesthesiology Clinical Research centre at the University of Rochester Medical Centre, USA. His main research interests include the methodological aspects of analgesic clinical trials and neuropathic pain.
Ed Charlton was a Consultant in Pain Management at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, a past President of the British Pain Society and a founding member of the International Association of Pain. He was widely recognised as a potent force in Pain Medicine. This year a short appreciation of his life and work was given by Dr Douglas Justins from St Thomas’ Hospital in London.
2010
Beyond the Fear of Pain
Anthony Dickenson, University College London, UK
IN HONOUR OF Dr. Wilbert Fordyce
Geert Crombez is head of the Department of Experimental, Clinical and Health Psychology at Ghent University. His main research interests are the fear of pain and attention to pain.
Wilbert Fordyce was a professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Washington in the US prior to his retirement.
A short appreciation of the life and work of Wilbert Fordyce was given by Eric Ghadiali from The Walton Centre in Liverpool.
2009
The Molecular Basis of Pain: A Beginner’s Guide
Professor Anthony Dickenson, University College London, UK
IN HONOUR OF Mitchell Max, Pittsburgh, USA
Professor Anthony Dickenson is professor of neuropharmacology at University Colege, London. His main research interest is in understanding the mechanisms of pain and how pain can be controlled in both normal and patho-physiological conditions.
Dr Mitchell Max was the Director of the Molecular Epidemiology of Pain Program at the University of Pittsburgh Centre for Pain Research . He worked on large cohort studies of inflammatory and neuropathic pain until his untimely death in 2008. He established standards for pain clinical trial methodology and conducted some of the pivotal trials establishing the efficacy of tricyclics for neuropathic pain. In the late 1990s he began to conduct studies on the genetics of pain.
A short appreciation of the life and work of Mitchell Max was given by Turo Nurmikko, Pain Relief Foundation, Professor of Pain Science, University of Liverpool and The Pain Research Institute, Liverpool.
2008
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: What Causes it and can it be Treated?
Ralf Baron, University of Kiel, Germany
IN HONOUR OF David, Niv, Tel Aviv, Israel
Professor Ralf Baronis Head of the Department of Neurological Pain Research and Therapy, Christian Albrechts University of Kiel, Germany. His main research interest is in the pathophysiology and therapy of neuropathic pain states. He is an associated editor and reviewer for many scientific journals and has received awards from the German Pain Society and the German Neurological Society. He is a Management Committee Member of the Neuropathic Pain Special Interest Group (NeupSIG) of the IASP.
Dr David Niv was tragically shot and killed in 2007 aged 56. He was the Director of the Multidisciplinary Pain Control Unit & Pain Research Laboratory at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Israel. He was one of the leading spokesmen in raising the profile of Pain Science and Medicine. He was President of The European Federation of IASP Chapters (EFIC) from 1999-2002 during which time he created the Europe Against Pain initiative.
A short appreciation of the life and work of David Niv was given by Chris Wells, from Liverpool, an associate and friend of David Niv for many years.
2007
Persistent Pain Mechanisms: Molecular mechanisms as a basis for therapy
Allan Basbaum, University of California San Francisco, USA
IN HONOUR OF John Lloyd, Oxford, UK
Professor Allan Basbaum is a Neuroscientist and Chairman of the Department of Anatomy at the University of California at San Francisco. His research interests are in the area of the neurobiology of pain and its control. He is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Pain. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 2005 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2003. In 2006 he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Dr John Lloyd was the founder of the Pain Relief Unit in Oxford. Together with colleagues he published several papers on cryoanalgesia for pain relief using a cryosurgical probe. He was an Honorary Member of the International Association for the Study of Pain and Past President of the British Pain Society.
A short appreciation of the life and work of John Lloyd was given by Henry McQuay, Nuffield Professor of Clinical Anaesthetics, University of Oxford and The Pain Relief Unit at Churchill Hospital, Oxford.
2006
Prediction and Prevention of Disability in Chronic Pain
Steven Linton, Örebro University, Sweden
IN HONOUR OF Dame Cicely Saunders, London, UK
Professor Steven J Linton is professor of clinical psychology at Örebro University in Sweden. He is director of the Center for Health and Medical Psychology (CHAMP). After studying experimental psychology in the US he completed his doctorate at Uppsala University. His current research interests revolve around pain, stress and insomnia. He is interested in the effectiveness of early psychological interventions.
Dame Cicely Saunders died in 2005 aged 87. She was the founder of the modern hospice movement. She was deeply religious and worked in various charitable homes for the dying from the late 1940s. She eventually studied medicine at St Thomas’s in London. She founded St Christopher’s Hospice in 1967 where she eventually died. Her books include Care of the Dying (1960); The Living Idea (1981) and Watch with Me (2003).
A short appreciation of the life and work of Dame Cicely Saunders was given by Geoffrey Hanks , Professor of Palliative Medicine at the University of Bristol.
2005
The Future of Pain Medicine
Sir Michael Bond, University of Glasgow, UK
IN HONOUR OF Hans Kosterlitz, Aberdeen University, UK
Professor Sir Michael Bond is an emeritus professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Glasgow. He is a past president of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP). His research interests are in the field of psychological and social factors in the generation and maintenance of pain.
Professor Bond is a former Vice President and Administrative Dean for the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Glasgow. In 1995 he was made Knight Bachelor for his services to medicine. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE).
Professor Hans Kosterlitz died in 1996 at the age of 93. He was educated in Germany where he studied medicine. In 1933, with the advent of the Nazis, he came to Britain and joined the staff of Aberdeen University. He became Professor of Pharmacology and Chemistry there in 1968. In 1975 in collaboration with John Hughes, he discovered endogenous opiates, previously discussed by Solomon Snyder. They named these opiates enkephalins.
(Hughes J et al. Identification of two related pentapeptides from the brain with potent opiate agonist activity. Nature 258(5536): 577-80, 1975)
A short appreciation of the life and work of Hans Kosterlitz was given by Dr Alexander McKnight who worked with Dr Kosterlitz in Aberdeen.
2004
Phantom Limbs and Body Image
V S Ramachandran, University of California San Diego, USA
IN HONOUR OF Denise Albe-Fessard, Paris, France
Professor V S Ramachandran is Director of the Center for Brain & Cognition and professor in the Psychology Department & Neurosciences Program at the University of California, San Diego. His research interests lay in neural mechanisms underlying human perception, cognition and emotions. He is a fellow of the Neurosciences Institute in La Jolla, California & a Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Behavioural Sciences at Stanford University, California. He gave the BBC Reith Lecture in 2003. He is co-author of the critically acclaimed book “Phantoms in the Brain”.
Dr Denise Albe-Fessard died in May 2003 at the age of 87. She was the first President of the International Association for the Study of Pain. She was a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur and an Officier de l’Ordre National du Mérite in her native France.
A short appreciation of the life and work of Dr Albe-Fessard was given by Dr David Bowsher from the Pain Research Institute in Liverpool.
2003
Pain & Central Nervous System Reorganisation
Troels Jensen, University of Aarhus, Denmark
IN HONOUR OF Peter Nathan, London, UK
Professor Troels Jensen was a professor in the Department of Neurology and the Danish Pain Research Center at the University of Aarhus. His research interests are in the field of neuropathic pain mechanisms and treatment. He was President-Elect of the IASP.
Dr Peter Nathan was an eminent neurologist. He worked for many years at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases in Queen Square in London. His main research interest was in the spinal cord and pain, in particular cordotomy. He was a founding member of the IASP and the Pain Society of Britain. He died in 2002 aged 88.
An appreciation of his life and work was given by Dr Geoffrey Schott from the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square London.
2002
Neural Mechanisms of Persistent Pain
Marshall Devor, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
IN HONOUR OF Pat Wall, University College, London, UK
Professor Marshall Devor is Chairman of the Department of Cell and Aniaml Biology at the Institute of Life Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel. His research interests are in the neurobiological basis of neuropathic pain.
Professor Patrick Wall, FRS, was a Founding Member of the IASP & the Brain Research Association and Founding Editor of the Journal, Pain. Pat Wall published “The Gate Control Theory of Pain” with Ronald Melzack in the 1960’s. He also edited “The Textbook of Pain ” with Ron Melzack. In 1989 he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society. He was Emeritus Professor at Guys and St Thomas’ Hospital until his death in August 2001 aged 76.
An appreciation of his life and work was given by Professor Maria Fitzgerald, from UCL, who worked for many years with Pat Wall in London.
2001
Evidence Matters
Henry McQuay, Oxford Pain Relief Unit and Oxford University, UK
IN HONOUR OF John J Bonica, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
Professor Henry McQuay was Professor of Pain Relief at the University of Oxford in the UK and a Consultant at the Pain Relief Unit at Churchill Hospital, Oxford. He was a Councillor of the IASP and Chair of the IASP Committee on Ethical Issues. He is the author of many articles and books including “An Evidence-Based Resource for Pain Relief”. McQuay HJ & Moore RA. Oxford: Oxford University press, 1998.
(www.jr2.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/)
Dr John Bonica was a Founder and Honorary Member of the IASP. He was a pioneer in the field of pain research. John Bonica received many honours including the establishment, by the University of Washington, of the John and Emma Bonica endowed Chair for Anaesthesiology and Pain Research. John J Bonica died in September 1994.
An appreciation of his life and work was given by Edmund Charlton, Consultant in Anaesthesia and Pain Relief at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, who worked with John Bonica in Seattle.
2000
“No excuse for pain” – the place of opioids in non-malignant pain.
Russell Portenoy, Beth Israel Medical Centre, New York, USA
IN HONOUR OF Sam Lipton, The Pain Relief Foundation & The Walton Centre, Liverpool, UK
Professor Russell Portenoy was Chairman in the Department of Pain Medicine & Palliative Care at
Beth Israel Medical Centre in New York, USA. He was the Secretary of the International Association of Pain (IASP) and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management.
Sam Lipton was a co-founder of the Pain Relief Foundation in Liverpool in the 1970s and the Director of the Pain Clinic at Walton Centre for many years. An appreciation of his life and work was given by his colleague John Miles from the Pain Relief Foundation. Sam Lipton died in 1994.