title: A pain research agenda for the 21st century.
abstract: Chronic pain represents an immense clinical problem. With tens of millions of people in the United States alone suffering from the burden of debilitating chronic pain, there is a moral obligation to reduce this burden by improving the understanding of pain and treatment mechanisms, developing new therapies, optimizing and testing existing therapies, and improving access to evidence-based pain care. Here, we present a goal-oriented research agenda describing the American Pain Society's vision for pain research aimed at tackling the most pressing issues in the field.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This article presents the American Pain Society's view of some of the most important research questions that need to be addressed to advance pain science and to improve care of patients with chronic pain.
authors.affiliation: The American Pain Society, Glenview, Illinois; Washington University Pain Center and Department of Anesthesiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri.
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Gereau
authors.affiliation: The American Pain Society, Glenview, Illinois; Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, Pain Research Program, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.
authors.forename: Kathleen A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Sluka
authors.affiliation: The American Pain Society, Glenview, Illinois; Center for Pain Research and Innovation, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Maixner
authors.affiliation: The American Pain Society, Glenview, Illinois; Department of Anesthesiology and Center on Addiction Recovery and Education, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire.
authors.forename: Seddon R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Savage
authors.affiliation: The American Pain Society, Glenview, Illinois; School of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, Texas.
authors.forename: Theodore J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Price
authors.affiliation: The American Pain Society, Glenview, Illinois; Department of Neurology, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Beth B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Murinson
authors.affiliation: The American Pain Society, Glenview, Illinois; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Mark D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.affiliation: The American Pain Society, Glenview, Illinois; Pain Research and Intervention Center of Excellence, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida. Electronic address: Rfilling@ufl.edu.
authors.forename: Roger B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Fillingim
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000379:methods*; D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000191:economics / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000379:methods; D006266:Health Education; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D012955:Societies, Medical; D014481:United States
keywords: Chronic pain; pain education; pain research; pain treatment; research funding