NIH Record - National Institutes of Health

New Insights on Preventing, Managing Childhood Pain

Dr. Tonya Palermo
Dr. Tonya Palermo

Dr. Tonya Palermo, professor of anesthesiology and pain medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine, will present a virtual lecture, “New Insights into Prevention and Management of Chronic Pain in Children and Adolescents,” on Thursday, June 15 from noon to 1:15 p.m. ET. 

Palermo is also editor-in-chief of The Journal of Pain and associate director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children’s Research Institute, where she directs the Pediatric Pain and Sleep Innovations Lab. Her lecture is part of the Integrative Medicine Research Lecture Series at the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. 

Chronic pain affects up to 40 percent of children and adolescents worldwide and can lead to negative consequences, such as reduced functioning and high levels of health-care use. The risk for continued pain and the impact of childhood chronic pain on health and development in adulthood are emerging areas of research. Psychological treatments in childhood may help prevent pain and disability and build resiliency throughout life. 

Palermo is multiple principal investigator on several pain prevention and management trials using psychological interventions (including digital) to: 

  • Prevent pain in children whose parents have chronic pain
  • Reduce the risk in adolescent surgical patients of developing chronic pain
  • Reduce disability in adolescents with disease-related pain

Her other topics include important factors that may predict pain in children and related effects when they are adults. 

Palermo holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Case Western Reserve University.

Registration (free) for this virtual lecture is required at https://bit.ly/IMLS-June2023. All are welcome to attend. 

For details about the series, visit: https://bit.ly/42Xehl6.—Ellen O’Donnell  

The NIH Record

The NIH Record, founded in 1949, is the biweekly newsletter for employees of the National Institutes of Health.

Published 25 times each year, it comes out on payday Fridays.

Assistant Editor: Eric Bock
Eric.Bock@nih.gov (link sends e-mail)

Staff Writer: Amber Snyder
Amber.Snyder@nih.gov (link sends e-mail)