Bridging the Translational Gap: Connecting Fundamental Scientists to Patient-Partners

Scientists working with animal models of disease rarely have patient-partners or others with lived experience as part of their research team. This is not by design, but often due to how basic research is carried out. Thus, integration of the lived experience in basic/fundamental and translational research has faced multiple challenges. While funding agencies are working to reverse this trend, the strategies used may not lead to improvements. Instead, new ways need to be identified to connect researchers and people with lived experience to advance patient-oriented research in the laboratory. Here, we present a model employed by the CIHR-SPOR Chronic Pain Network that linked a basic scientist (Nader Ghasemlou, Queen’s University) with a patient-partner (Lesley Singer, Chronic Pain Network and McGill University). This partnership resulted in a dramatic shift in research the Ghasemlou Lab research program and led to the integration of additional patient-partners to the team (Jennifer Daly-Cyr, Chronic Pain Network). These interactions have been key to developing new research ideas, identifying strategies to reach new populations, and the identifying areas where future studies are necessary.