Chaired by: Patricia Grady, Story Landis, and Lawrence Tabak

1) Dr. Tabak introduced Drs. Barry Kramer and Sue Rossi from OMAR/OD. They gave a brief presentation on the process involved in sponsoring a Consensus Development Conference/State of the Science Conference. There was discussion of the costs, time line, independence of the panelists, and scope of the topic. The Pain Consortium (or a subgroup) will meet to discuss the next steps in advancing a proposal to OMAR. (I have the slide set from Dr. Kramer's presentation. I would be glad to share this with members, let me know if you are interested)

2) Jody Dove provided an update on the Science Writers Seminar to be held November 2, 2005 from 11:00 AM to 1:30 PM in Room E1/E2 in the Natcher Conference Center. The Workshop will be Webcast via NIH Videocasting and a press kit will be available. The seminar will feature talks by Ann O'Mara, Mike Iadarola and Drew Mannes, Jeff Mogil, and Blossom Patterson (a pain patient). Seating for NIH staff may be limited depending on the number of reporters who are interested in attending. Jody will notify Consortium members a week ahead of time about availability of seating.

2a) Jody will email Consortium members seeking input for new information for an update of the Pain Consortium Web Site.

3) Linda Porter discussed the plans for the Pain Consortium Symposium and provided a draft agenda to the group. The tentative date is mid to late February 2006 and it will most likely be held on the NIH campus in the Natcher Conference Center. The symposium subgroup will finalize plans, dates and contractors for this initial Pain Consortium symposium and present the results to the Co-chairs of the Consortium.

4) Dave Thomas presented a new NIDA Initiative on Prescription Opioid Abuse and Pain. Discussions focused on the scope of the Initiative, the participation of other Institutes and Centers, and the editing of the title to more succinctly describe the aims of the Initiative. Members should contact Dave directly for further information.

5) Linda Porter led a discussion about the recent article in The Journal of Pain on the authors' assessment of funding patterns at NIH on pain research. Linda will contact the authors to discuss strategies for the continued accurate assessment of NIH pain research activities.

6) There was a brief discussion about the inclusion of pain-related meetings on the Pain consortium Website. See Item 2a above.

7) The Intramural Program on Research on Women's Health, Office of Research on Women's Health will sponsor an Interest Group meeting on Tuesday, November 1, 2005 at 1:00 PM entitled Women and Pain. All Consortium members were encouraged to attend.