IASP GLOBAL YEAR NAMED LECTURE
Be Smart And Fail Fast: Applying Learnings From The Hunt For Novel Neurodegenerative Disease Therapies To Neuropathic Pain Dr Lincoln Tracy
Dr Nadia Soliman, a senior research fellow at the Evidence for Policy and Practice Information Centre at University College London in the United Kingdom, and Dr Michael Ferrero, a postdoctoral researcher at NeuRA’s Centre for Pain Impact, shared the honour of delivering the named lecture in 2026.
The following is a summary from the 46th Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) of the Australian Pain Society (APS), which took place in Adelaide from April 19-22, 2026. Since 2019, the ASM has featured a named plenary lecture drawing inspiration from the International Association for the Study of Pain’s (IASP) Global Year Against Pain, an advocacy effort to raise awareness of pain. The IASP chose 2026 to be the Global Year for Neuropathic Pain. The pair discussed the findings and implications of the International Association for the Study of Pain’s (IASP) Special Interest Group on Neuropathic Pain (NeuPSIG) 2025 systematic review and metaanalysis on pharmacotherapy and non-invasive neuromodulation for neuropathic pain. The 2025 review marked the third time the NeuPSIG had published treatment guidelines for neuropathic pain, after Robert Dworkin led the initial efforts in 2007 before Nanna Finnerup and Nadine Attal did the same for the first revisions in 2015. There have been multiple developments in pharmacological approaches and neuromodulation techniques in the decade since the previous guidelines were published. Dr Soliman explained that although high quality care depended on having up-to-date guidelines, there was no objective rule for when a review or guidelines should be updated.
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“The decision rests on whether new evidence or methodological advances are likely to change conclusions or strengthen confidence in existing recommendations,” she told delegates. “The widely cited Finnerup review did prompt reconsideration in light of emerging data on novel pharmacological treatments and neuromodulation, alongside advances in systematic review methodology, which would enable us to conduct a more rigorous appraisal of the trials.” A multidisciplinary group that featured representatives from 13 different countries reviewed the existing literature base for randomised, doubleblind, placebo-controlled trials for any neuropathic pain condition, provided there were at least 10 participants per group at the end of the treatment period. The group focused on interventions that had been administered for at least three weeks or had at least three weeks of follow-up in the event where the treatment or intervention was administered in a single session. The literature search resulted in data for 48,789 adult participants across 313 trials, with 284 studies testing a pharmacological agent and the remaining 29 involving a neuromodulation approach. Eighty-four different drugs were assessed as part of the pharmacological trials, while six different neuromodulation approaches were used.
Australian Pain Society Newsletter | Volume 47, Issue 4, June 2026