The Heroes of Pain Research

Thanks to these modern pioneers and heroes in pain research we are gaining a glimpse behind the large and complex veil that conceals the secrets of pain. There are countless others who have made important contributions to pain research. I hope that no one takes offense if this page does not mention an individual you consider particularly worthy. This page only attempts to serve as an introduction to a few of the important pioneers and a brief mention of their contribution to pain research.

J. Dejerine and G. Roussy
Dr. Dejerine and Dr. Roussy were two French neurologists who, in their work with post-stroke patients in the early 1900s, were the first to describe the symptoms of Central Pain. Dejerine-Roussy Syndrome is one name assigned to Central Pain that occurs in the post-stroke patient.

George Riddoch
In 1938 in “The Lancet,” Dr. Riddoch was the first to attribute the term Central Pain to the condition previously known as “thalamic syndrome.” He described Central Pain as “a pain worse than pain.”

Carlo A. Pagni and Valentino Cassinari
In 1969 Dr. Pagni and Dr. Cassinari published the first medical text devoted to Central Pain, “Central Pain: A Neurological Survey.”

John Bonica
Dr. John Bonica (1917-1994) suffered from unexplained pain. As an anesthesiologist, he felt that not enough was being done to treat the pain suffered by soldiers during World War II. Assigned to lead the effort toward pain control at Madigan Army Hospital in Washington State in 1944, he found patients with pain symptoms that baffled him. In his efforts to understand the unusual pain symptoms his patients were suffering, he consulted colleagues in neurosurgery, psychiatry, and orthopedics. The regular meetings where this group of four doctors discussed pain symptoms laid the groundwork for the founding Dr. Bonica’s famous interdisciplinary pain clinic at Tacoma General Hospital in 1947. In 1960 the clinic moved to the University of Washington, where it operates to this day.

Dr. Bonica proposed that nerve injury pain due to an injury of the central nervous system should be called Central Pain, and that nerve injury pain due to injury outside the central nervous system should be referred to by the symptoms of that pain. In 1953 Dr. Bonica authored the landmark book, “The Management of Pain,” which was republished in 1990 as the two-volume work, “The Management of Pain, Second Edition.”

David Bowsher
In 1979 Dr. Bowsher, together with the late Dr Sampson Lipman and Mr. John Miles, set up the Pain Research Institute in Liverpool, where he still serves as Research Director. He is credited with creating a concise list of criteria that a physician may use to help diagnose Central Pain.

Ron Tasker
A brilliant Canadian neurosurgeon, Ron Tasker, began to study pain in the 1970s. Tasker earned world-wide recognition for discovering the specific tract that carries pain in the spinal cord and lower portions of the brain, known as the spinothalamic tract.

Dr. Tasker arrived at the startling conclusion that pain due to the injury of a nerve felt different from normal pain, that it was a sensation that a person without nerve damage would never feel. He also realized that the normal ways of treating pain would not work for nerve injury pain.

Patrick Wall and Ronald Melzack
Dr. Wall and  Dr. Melzack were two of the primary authors of the current edition of “The Textbook of Pain” and other important articles and books on the subject of pain. They are perhaps best known for co-authoring the gate control theory of pain. 

Sadly, Dr. Wall passed away in August 2001. He is remembered for his genius and his sincere compassion.