ALLEN FINLEY & LAURA GIBSON

Dr. Allen Finley  is a professor at Dalhousie University and Director of Pediatric Pain Management at the IWK Health Centre. As a specialist in his field, Allen regularly publishes his research findings and is asked to present them all over the world. 

Laura Gibson was the Eastern Canada Hub Knowledge Broker with Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP), based at the IWK Health Centre. Specializing in health policy development, Laura is part of an international network of experts working to see pediatric pain research findings implemented in clinical practice. 

Together, Allen, Laura and their team at the Centre for Pediatric Pain Research, brought the International Symposium on Pediatric Pain (ISPP) to Halifax. This conference brings together researchers and clinicians who are members of an international working group on the study of pediatric pain together to discuss the research and treatment of pediatric pain globally. 

ISPP has been previously hosted in New Zealand, Malaysia, Switzerland, so it’s exciting to see it come to Halifax. 

WHY THEY DID IT

Dr. Finley has been involved with the Special Interest Group (SIG) on Pain in Childhood that hosts ISPP for his whole career and attends every biennial ISPP conference, as do many others at the Centre for Pediatric Pain Research (CPPR). Together, they felt it was time to bring the conference here. “Halifax offers people the potential to see a part of Canada they haven’t seen before” said Laura. 

The Centre was unsuccessful the first time they bid but were able to secure Halifax as the host destination on their second attempt. “It was really exciting to host an international conference in Halifax to showcase all our local expertise. Halifax is a leader in pediatric pain research, so it was great to give our clinicians a centre stage to highlight all the work they’ve done throughout their careers,” said Laura. 

“There were many people involved,” said Laura. “CPPR took the lead in drafting and submitting the bid as well as the planning, it's important to recognize the collective effort of numerous individuals, including our esteemed partners at the International Association for Pain (IASP) and Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP), who contributed to making the conference possible."

BIG OUTCOMES

The International Symposium on Pediatric Pain brought 526 research experts and clinicians focused on pediatric pain to Halifax, helping to shed new light on the important research and the challenges faced with implementation. Conference attendees came from 47 countries (and 5 continents), and the 

press took notice of the event. 

The event contributed more than $1.4 million to our local economy.