Charting the Future of Pain & Neuroscience: Leadership, AI, and Education

I wrote this section with my brain. No ChatGPT 5.0, no Grok, no Gemini, and no other artificial intelligence (AI) tools were used in the creation of these thoughts. Why do I note this? Recently, I have edited several manuscripts that were written entirely by an AI tool. Is this an ethical route to use in the creation of new educational materials? That is an important question for us to consider, as is the question of several other ethical and moral dilemmas with this journey into the world of AI. At ASPN, we have decided to fully embrace the arena of AI, and with that, we have gone “all in” for our patients and our members.

You might assume AI is a recent development. Nothing could be further from the truth. AI as we know it today was first presented at a technology conference in 1956 based on work from Dartmouth University. Despite this early start, it has taken decades of work to get to the “tipping point” where it will now quickly evolve into a daily tool we use as we participate in the activities of daily life.

This month, Chris Massey, MD, led a guideline published in The Journal of Pain Research about the use of AI in the treatment of spine and pain disorders. This paper brings up many important points and we must put this at the forefront due to the rapid evolution in this area. This process has led to the creation of not just a committee on AI but a division. Led by Robert Moghim, MD, and assisted by the amazingly talented doctors, John Prunksis, MD, and Usman Latif, MD, this division will have many important goals:

• The AI division will create a “constitution” for the appropriate use of this technology in spine and nerve care but also one that applies across the medical horizon.

• The AI division will play a role in the newly established Registry process to assure that the engineering, policies, and procedures are advanced and modified with the pace of new machine learning.

• The AI division will partner with collaborating entities to develop new methods of electronic health record documentation to boost pre-approvals, fight denials, and improve patient access.

• The AI division will work hand in hand to establish best practices to advance 3D printing of new devices and to innovate new options for spine care.

• The AI division will work to make the daily lives of our patients and health care providers more efficient and more successful.

• The AI division will give insight on making electronic prior authorization much more effective and that will improve pain and spine practice.

This is a confusing time for some. What is machine learning? What are neural networks? What data is needed for Large Language models? These complex thoughts were not even on the mind of doctors when AI made its entry into medicine in the 1970s. Now as we evolve, many will find the use of virtual, augmented, and mixed reality beginning to enter the practice of spine care. I have already had the opportunity to use these tools to virtually train physicians in Dorsal Root Ganglion Stimulation, where they can wear the VR goggles and be in “the operating room” with me. This will continue to improve and develop.

Lastly, the use of AI to improve interventional spine practice has great potential. Insurance companies now use AI to look for faults in documentation to deny care. We will use AI to counter this and to get authorization for appropriate and indicated procedures. Using these tools to improve the authorization process will help a great deal. This process called “electronic prior authorization” will be another focus of our efforts.

One final thought. Recently, working with my good friends Dan Kloster, MD, and Brad Hancock, I created an avatar for informed consent. Watching the avatar present, I realized the future we will be able to adopt and update content with or without the speaker being available. So, if you see me present in October in London at the International Society of Pain and Neuroscience, ask yourself, “Is he really here? Or has the avatar taken over?”

The American Society of Pain & Neuroscience (ASPN) is at the forefront of advancing innovation, collaboration, and education in the field of pain and neuroscience. As we continue to grow, so too does our commitment to amplifying the voices and achievements of our members. One of the most powerful ways we can do this is through social media.

Social media is not just a communication tool. It’s a platform for education, inspiration, and community-building. We encourage all ASPN members to actively share their experiences, research, and insights online. Whether you’re attending an ASPN event, presenting a new technique, or simply engaging in meaningful patient care, we invite you to post about it and tag #ASPN and #ASPN2026. Your posts not only showcase your expertise but also elevate our shared mission across the medical community and beyond.

Additionally, ASPN is expanding its video content to spotlight cutting-edge procedures, thought leadership, and member contributions. We welcome video submissions from our members—whether it’s a case highlight, educational pearls, or conference takeaways. These videos help educate others and promote excellence within our specialty.

Lastly, we are improving the ASPN Physician Finder tool on our website to make it easier for patients and referring providers to find you. Be sure your profile is updated and complete.

Together, by sharing and supporting each other across platforms, we continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible in pain and neuroscience. Let’s keep growing, connecting, and leading—on stage, online, and everywhere in between.

The 2025 ASPN Annual Meeting in Miami is now behind us. The meeting was a major success with approximately 4,000 attendees and over 340 original abstracts submitted. We now have our eyes on the upcoming International Society of Pain & Neuroscience (ISPN) meeting in London in October of 2025.

The 2023 inaugural ISPN meeting in Dubai clearly demonstrated the desire of our international colleagues to learn cutting-edge minimally invasive spine (MIS) procedures, understand the scientific evidence behind them, and develop the skill set to select the appropriate patient for the implementation of the therapies in various parts of the world. The curiosity and ambition for innovative knowledge of scientific-based approaches to chronic pain patients worldwide was apparent and quickly became the topic of discussion and planning for additional ISPN meetings.

Dr. Reda Tolba, the program director of ISPN-Dubai, has been instrumental in architecting the ISPN conferences for the future. The executive committee, along with Dr. Tolba, began work on the next ISPN meeting and London was selected as the next location for this conference. The ISPN-London meeting, planned for October of 2025, is co-chaired by none other than the world famous Drs. Adnan Al-Kaisy in London and Ganesan Baranidharan (Dr. Barani) in Leeds, who are both pioneers and key opinion leaders in our space.

The 2025 ISPN, which is scheduled for October 9–12, has attracted an unprecedented number of worldwide faculty with a diverse view of available therapies for our patients. The goal of this meeting will be to kick-start a global initiative to collaborate with colleagues and develop patient treatment algorithms with a unified standard in mind. As the ISPN initiative has already been highly regarded by worldwide key opinion leaders, the ASPN executive committee has made the ambitious decision to spin off ISPN as a standalone society, with a foundation of collaborative faculty, investigators, and practicing physicians from all continents.

The committee is also hard at work to develop an annual ISPN meeting to be held in various parts of the world where there is access to the newest, evidence-based technologies. The format of the meeting will be similar to ASPN with panels as well as an opportunity to present original research data on the podium for our colleagues. The ISPN-London meeting will be the start of this annual conference which will attract international colleagues with common interests in evidence-based patient care in the field of MIS.

The collaborative effort will not only include interventional pain physicians but also key physician colleagues in spine and neurosurgery, neurology and psychiatry. On behalf of the ISPN Executive Committee and the ISPN-London Planning Committee, we would like to invite all of our colleagues to make plans to attend this historical meeting held at the Millennium Convention Center in London from October 9–12 and become a part of shaping the future in the worldwide development of a new standard of care in our space.

The 4th Poster to Podium (P2P) class concluded this year with remarkable success.

Congratulations to Drs. Michael Apeadu, Jack Bulat, Roshan Chhatlani, Jason Crowther, John Gallagher, Benjamin Gill, Abhishek Gupta, Shamsideen Musa, Roshni Patel, and Boss Povieng. These physicians presented their research at the ASPN Annual Meeting, and three of their abstracts were recognized as ASPN top abstracts for 2026. We are incredibly proud of our 2025 P2P graduates and look forward to their continued career success and their future contributions to mentoring upcoming P2P participants.

We are also excited to kick off our 5th Poster to Podium cohort! Selected participants will be invited to exclusive monthly webinars designed to refine research skills, enhance public speaking, and advance career success. Each participant will collaborate with an ASPN expert on a research project and will have the opportunity to present their research at the 2026 ASPN Annual Meeting.

The Need for a Minimally Invasive Spine Certification Course: The Time Is Now!

I hope to take this opportunity to highlight one of many initiatives that will be the hallmark of this coming year in our monthly newsletter. Being a faculty at UCSD Health has been one of the many joys of my career. Fellowship training is a critical stage as graduates transition from their final year of training to functioning as independent medical consultants.

The 12-month cycle presents many challenges with a broad range of skill sets that need to be acquired for successful independent practice. Mastering radiographical and anatomical skills, basic and clinical science of pain, and surgical skills to ensure clinical competence is a high barrier for any new fellow to achieve competence and confidence in the growing field of minimally invasive spine interventions.

In addition, the broad multidisciplinary fields that enter interventional training presents unique challenges to education standardization.

The ASPN Minimally Invasive Spine (MIS) certification course will fill this critical gap by providing a structured framework to supplement rigorous fellowship training. The certification course will focus on both technical and knowledge competency. With a multidisciplinary faculty inclusive of pain physicians of diverse background and spine surgeons, this initiative will be an important education platform. For both our global membership and for non-members, this represents an exciting initiative and opportunity for knowledge growth.

Critical focus will not only be on understanding anatomy but understanding critical SAFE principles to disease management. Safety, Appropriateness, Fiscal Neutrality, and Effectiveness will be a core theme of the approach and vision from our MIS certification leaders in shaping ongoing training.

If we are going to look at the long-term trajectory of our specialty, we need to critically prioritize providing more robust educational training to supplement current education initiatives. This has to take into consideration prior residency training to create a consistent scope of practice as we work to identify who is an interventional pain physician. This is a critical first step.

We will be excited to launch our inaugural class soon! We look forward to the support of our ASPN community and the larger pain and medical community at large.