Pain

The Scottish Pain Research Community (SPaRC) was established, with support from Scottish Government, in 2009 to develop expertise in pain research for patient benefit.

A strong network of pain researchers, clinicians, third sector organisations, patient groups and other key stakeholders across Scotland support internationally competitive pain research. This covers the full scientific range, from laboratory to the community, and encompasses important clinical areas such as addiction, cancer, primary care, neuropathic pain and mental health. It ensures both clinical practice in managing chronic pain is informed by current research and that current research in chronic pain is relevant to clinical practice.

SPaRC has recently transitioned into NRS Pain and brings together around 200 researchers in multiple disciplines and areas together, to promote collaboration and to share and disseminate research activity and findings and helps:

Develop a formal network of Principal Investigators/ active researchers across Scotland to provide an effective route for increasing multicentre studies, working with NHS Research Scotland, which will include assessment of novel interventions for chronic pain.
Strength research links within Scotland to foster academic collaboration and to address research gaps
Deliver Annual Scientific Meetings (ASMs) to share the latest Scottish pain research and network.