

OUR CONFERENCE IS ACCREDITED
This one-credit-per-hour Group Learning program has been certified by the College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Alberta Chapter for up to 21.25 Mainpro+® credits.
Conference participation has been approved by NIDMAR (The National Institute of Disability Management and Research) for up to 21.5 CEC hours. CDMPs and CRTWCs attending should submit their certificate of attendance to NIDMAR with their next certification renewal.
Ticket Pricing
Physicians and Physician Specialists $99
If you are employed and living with or without chronic pain.
All Allied Health Care Providers and Researchers $49
If you are employed and living with or without chronic pain.
Other Professionals $49
If you are an employed professional but not working in a healthcare setting, living with or without chronic pain.
Full Time Medical Learner or Medical Resident Free
You MUST be enrolled in a full time program at a post secondary institution. Please provide proof of full time status to team@painab.ca.
Person with Lived Experience Free
If you are a physician, healthcare provider or professional who is employed living with chronic pain, please select the appropriate ticket listed above. This ticket provides limited access to conference events and is not intended for people with chronic pain who are employed healthcare providers or professionals.
Our Keynote Speakers
Dr. Kristin Neff
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Dr. Kristin Neff is a pioneer in the field of inner strength training and self-compassion—the first to empirically study the concepts and create a simple, actionable guide proven to increase motivation, boost resilience, and improve mental health. Our society teaches us that self-compassion is the
enemy of productivity, that to be kind to ourselves is to invite complacency when in fact, the opposite is true—and in the midst of a global pandemic, when near catastrophic burnout is threatening the happiness, success, and productivity of us all, we need self-compassion more than ever.
Dr. Neff is an Insight Meditation practitioner and an associate professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and Harvard Business Review, among others, and her TEDx talk has been viewed over 1.7 million times. She’s also the co-developer of an empirically supported training program called Mindful Self-Compassion, which is taught by thousands of people worldwide, and the co-author of The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook as well as Teaching the Mindful Self-Compassion Program: A Guide for Professionals. She is also co-founder of the nonprofit Center for Mindful Self-Compassion.
Dr. Gabor Maté

Dr. Gabor Maté is a retired physician who, after 20 years of family practice and palliative care experience, worked for over a decade in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side with patients challenged by drug addiction and mental illness. The bestselling author of four books published in twenty-five languages,
Gabor is an internationally renowned speaker highly sought after for his expertise on addiction, trauma, childhood development, and the relationship of stress and illness.
His book on addiction received the Hubert Evans Prize for literary non-fiction. For his groundbreaking medical work and writing he has been awarded the Order of Canada, his country’s highest civilian distinction, and the Civic Merit Award from his hometown, Vancouver. His books include In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction; When the Body Says No; The Cost of Hidden Stress; Scattered Minds: The Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder; and (with Gordon Neufeld) Hold on to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers. To learn more, join his e-news list at www.drgabormate.com.
2021 Distinguished Speakers
Claudine Adlington
Advocate and Founder of Alberta Talks Pain.
Dr. Werner Becker
MD, FRCPS (Neurology)
Professor Emeritus, Department of Neurology, University of Calgary and Founder of the Calgary Headache Assessment and Management Program (CHAMP).
Joletta Belton
Founder, My Cuppa Jo, and a Person With Lived Experience.
Carol Bennett
BSc MPP
Chief Executive Officer, Pain Australia.
Dr. Raj Bhardwaj
CCFP FCFP
Urgent Care Physician, Alberta Health Services and Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine, University of Calgary.
Dr. Jason Busse
DC, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Anesthesia, McMaster University.
Dr. Fiona Campbell
Professor, Department of Anaesthesia, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto Past President, Canadian Pain Society, Co-Chair Canadian Pain Task Force.
Dr. Eloise Carr
RN, PhD
Professor in the Faculty of Nursing.
Cassandra Chisholm
BSc
Masters student, University of Calgary and a Person with Lived Experience.
Dr. Hance Clarke
MD PhD
Director, Transitional Pain Program, Toronto General Hospital.
Cheryl Crow
MOT, OTR/L
Occupational Therapist and Patient Educator
Dr. David Dodick
MD
Professor of Neurology, Director of the Headache and Concussion Programs at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona.
Tracy Fossum
President, Advocate and Founder of Help Alberta’s Pain.
Dr. Andrea Furlan
MD PhD
Pain physician, Senior Scientist and Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Michael Gold
PhD
Professor Neurobiology at the University of Pittsburgh,
President US Association for the Study of Pain.
Janet Holly
BHSc P.T. MSc
Clinical Specialist in Pain Science, Clinician Researcher Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Senior physiotherapist Ottawa Hospital Rehabilitation Centre.
Dr. Carol Hopkins
O.C., MSW, LL.D.
Executive Director, Thunderbird Partnership Foundation.
Maria Hudspith
Executive Director, PainBC and Co-Chair Canadian Pain Task Force.
Kara Irwin
M.Sc., R.Psych.
Psychologist, Irwin Psychological Services Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine, University of Calgary
Keith King
BScN, MPH, CPSO, RN
Assistant Teaching Professor, Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta
Bonnie Klassen
BSc (OT), MSc
Dr. Alika Lafontaine
BSc, MD, FRCPC
President Elect, Canadian Medical Association
Dr. Dayna Lee-Baggley
PhD
Registered Psychologist, Assistant Professor, Family Medicine, Dalhousie University
Dr. Greg Lehman
DC, MScPT
Physiotherapist, chiropractor and strength and conditioning specialist treating musculoskeletal disorders.
Dr. Leroy Little Bear
JD, DAS (Hon), LLD (Hon)
Professor Emeritus at the University of Lethbridge.
Dr. Francois Louw
CCFP(EM), FCFP, MBChB (Pret), DA(SA), ECFMG, Adv. Dipl Pain Mgt CAPM (Interventional Pain Management)
Dr. Jaeun Macen
PhD, CSCP
Certified Spiritual Care Practitioner, Alberta Health Services.
Dr. Liam Martin
MB, MRCPI, FRCPC
Rheumatologist, Caleo Health Calgary
Pete Moore
Pain Self-management Advocate
Marni Panas
BHAdmn, CCIP
Canadian Certified Inclusion Professional (CCIP™), providing diversity & inclusion, health and community engagement consulting and education services.
Dr. John Pereira
MD, CCFP
Past President, Pain Society of Alberta, and President-Elect of the Canadian Pain Society.
Dr. Elisabeth Saxton
R.Psych.
Clinical Psychologist, National Director of Mental Health Services and President-Elect for the Pain Society of Alberta.
Dr. Dino Smiljic
MD CCFP
Previous Medical Lead of the Bow Valley Primary Care Network's Chronic Pain Program.
Jennifer Stewart
Pain Advocate, Help Alberta's Pain
Dr. Mick Sullivan
PhD
Canada Research Chair in Behavioural Health, Department of Psychology.
Dr. Rob Tanguay
BSc (Hons), MD, FRCPC, CISAM, CCSAM
President of the Pain Society of Alberta.
Dr. Bronwyn Lennox Thompson
PhD, MSc(Psych), DipOT
Academic Coordinator, Postgraduate Programmes in Pain and Pain Management Orthopaedic Surgery and Musculoskeletal Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, NZ
Dr. Susan Tupper
PT, PhD
Strategy Consultant, Pain Quality Improvement and Research
Dr. Jillian Vinall Miller
PhD
Assistant Professor in Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at the University of Calgary
Tracy Wasylak
BN, MSc. CHE
Chief Program Officer, Strategic Clinical Networks and Co-Chair, Alberta Pain Strategy.
Dr. Verna Yiu
President and CEO, Alberta Health Services