CLINICAL PAIN NEUROSCIENTIST TALKS ABOUT HOW THE BRAIN PROCESSES PAIN INFORMATION Trial: affects on pain and activity levels, by educating knee osteoarthritis participants in individualised exercise programs

With
Tasha Stanton,
Associate Professor of Clinical Pain Neuroscience
Group,  Leader Persistent Pain Research Group (Lifelong Health)
SAHMRI (South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute) &
co-Director of IMPACT in Health, University of South Australia

SEGMENT
Filmed in Adelaide | March 2026

The Persistent Pain Research Group’s vision is to work hand-in-hand with consumers to undertake impactful research that helps better understand and treat persistent pain.

Their studies span discovery to implementation science to determine key contributors to the development and maintenance of persistent pain and to use this information to create novel brain-based interventions.

They hold expertise in developing new technologies, such as virtual and mediated reality, and translating these technologies to the clinical environment, using innovative co-design methods.

The Persistent Pain Research Group studies a variety of painful conditions, with specific focus on:

• Osteoarthritis
• Spinal pain (neck and back)
• Complex regional pain syndrome
• Phantom limb pain after amputation

Persistent pain affects one in five Australians and costs the nation an estimated $73 billion per year in health system costs, lost productivity and other financial costs.

Persistent pain also has debilitating personal costs – negatively impacting quality of life and the ability to engage in meaningful work and life activities.

Despite the enormity of this problem, very few effective treatments exist with most showing only small to moderate improvements. New treatments are desperately needed. The group believes the best way to create impactful change is to work with people with lived experience of persistent pain to devise solutions with them, not for them.

Source: SAHMRI webpage Persistent Pain Research Group