Interview: Pain management challenges: research, access, costs, education and public awareness

Barry J Sessle graduated from dental school in Sydney, Australia, in 1963 and went on to complete a Masters in oral biology. This reinforced his emerging interest in research, which eventually led to his PhD in Sydney and postdoctorate work in dental neuroscience at the NIH. He joined the University of Toronto Faculty of Dentistry, Canada, in 1971 and was Dean of the Faculty from 1990 to 2001. He is currently Professor, Faculty of Dentistry, and Canada Research Chair, and a former President of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), the Canadian Pain Society (CPS) and the International Association of Dental Research. Dr Sessle has received many distinctive awards and honors. For example, he is the only dentist to be elected to the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Science (in 1996). He is also the only dentist or dental academic to be President of either the IASP or CPS. He was honored by the American Academy of Orofacial Pain during their annual meeting in 2004 and given an award for his dedication to pain research, service and teaching. This is only the second such award given in the 30 years of the organization's existence. In 2004, he was awarded the Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis (IMHA) Quality of Life Research Award in recognition of the highest rank IMHA-related grant in 2004 for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research competitions. Dr Sessle is also a renowned lecturer, presenting 15-20 lectures internationally each year and, in addition, has published 11 books and over 330 papers. He is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Orofacial Pain, and a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Pain Management. In this article, Dr Sessle discusses his career and current work with the Launch Editor, Laura Dormer.