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The World Institute of Pain

The World Institute of Pain (WIP) was established in 1993 as a worldwide organization promoting interventional pain by bringing together the most recognized experts in pain medicine. The organization aims to facilitate consensus building through the education, training, and certification of physicians, thereby championing the judicious, safe, and efficacious performance of interventional pain techniques.

WIP organizes annual or biannual congresses since 1998, with the last one being organized in Antalya, Turkey from October 28 to 31, 2023. WIP also hosts advanced pain conferences and hands-on cadaver workshops, with emphasis on interventional techniques, in Miami, Taipei, Budapest, and Istanbul.

The Fellow of Interventional Pain Practice® (FIPP®) certification examination was established in 2001; since then, a total of around 1,400 physicians have been FIPP® certified, representing 64 countries. The Certified Interventional Pain Sonologist (CIPS) certification examination was established in 2010; a total of 193 physicians representing 31 countries have received CIPS certification to date.

Our official journal, Pain Practice, has been published since 2001, and features multidisciplinary articles on pain and analgesia that provide up-to-date research, evaluation methods, and techniques for pain management. WIP has a network comprised of sections based on regions or countries with the strongest concentration of FIPP Members. WIP has 27 sections, and each section has an elected chair who serves on the WIP council and votes on future officers via an election system.

WIP has also established registered sections since 2018 and the first registered section is Turkey, followed by the Taiwan section.

Within the networking system, WIP has the EPP “Excellence in Pain Practice” Award & Recognition Program for Pain Centers. Established in 2010, EPP currently has centers of excellence in Africa (1), Asia (5), Australia (1), Europe (8), North America (9), and South America (6) to train and educate future generations. 

WIP’s Mission Statement & Goals:

One of the most formidable challenges facing pain medicine on a global scale is the pervasive shortage of specialized pain clinics and a widespread deficiency in pain management skills among healthcare providers. This gap contributes directly to protracted waiting times for patients in need of relief. Chronic pain, by some estimates, afflicts an astonishing 20% of the world’s population— making it a truly universal health burden that transcends borders, cultures, and socioeconomic status. The sheer magnitude of this “hidden epidemic” underscores the critical importance of ensuring equitable access to effective pain therapies and fostering robust clinical expertize within the field.  

The World Institute of Pain (WIP) mission statement and goals reflect a comprehensive and internationally oriented approach to advancing standards in interventional pain medicine. The mission and goals, emphasizing international collaboration, education, and standardization, which are core to WIP’s identity. WIP has been to the forefront on pain management for over 30 years so for WIP to host its 13th World Congress in Latin America — specifically in Mexico — for the first time marks a historic milestone that should be celebrated for its strategic vision.  

WIP’s Mission Emphasizes:

  • Uniting recognized global experts in pain medicine.  
  • Advancing and standardizing interventional pain practice.  
  • Improving standards of care for pain patients.  
  • Educational and training program sponsorship for pain physicians.  
  • Facilitation of practice guidelines and competency standards.  
  • A long-term vision rooted in the organization’s founding in 1993.  
  • Recognition of demographic changes (e.g., doubling of chronic/cancer pain population by 2030, aging population).  
  • The need for focused care and consensus on best practices. 

Countdown to #WIP2026

Bio

Dr. Rodrigo Diez Tafur

Centro MDRS: Sports, Spine & Pain Center Medical Director Clinica Angloamericana Pain Management Unit Director. Lima, Peru Peruvian Anatomical Reaserch Center Medical Director

Bio

Prof. Jan Van Zundert

President Elect
Prof. Dr. Jan Van Zundert is anesthesiologist and chair of the Multidisciplinary Pain Centre, Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg (ZOL), Genk/Lanaken, Belgium. He is also Professor Pain Medicine at the Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, The Netherlands. He graduated in Medicine (MD) in 1990 at the KU Leuven, Belgium and completed a 5 years’ residency in anesthesiology and reanimation at the University Hospital Antwerp (UZA). Additional specialization in Pain Medicine at the Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands in 1995. He obtained in 2005 his PhD at the Maastricht University with the thesis: “The use of pulsed radiofrequency in the treatment of chronic pain”. In November 2024 he received the John J. Bonica Award of the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine for his demonstrated outstanding contributions to the development, teaching and practice of pain medicine. He authored more than 150 publications in PubMed indexed journals with an Hirsh factor of 41 and is editor of the Dutch & English version of the guidelines “Evidence Based Interventional Pain Medicine According to Clinical Diagnoses. His research interests focus on clinical and translational research in interventional pain medicine. He is member of several national and international associations for Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine and president-elect of the World Institute of Pain.

Bio

Prof. Christopher Gilligan

Editor-in-Chief, PAIN Practice

Chris Gilligan, MD, MBA, is a pain medicine specialist who serves as Chief Medical Officer, Chief Quality Officer and Senior Vice President at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and Professor of Neurosurgery and Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Areas of focus include operational performance, teamwork and professionalism, patient experience and quality/safety. He also has a successful track record as a venture capital investor in and board member of biotech and medical device start-up companies culminating in Initial Public Offerings and acquisitions.
He began his career at BWH in 1997 as a resident in General Surgery and Emergency Medicine. He then completed a fellowship in Pain Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and earned a Master’s in Business Administration from Harvard Business School. Previously, he earned an MD from Yale University School of Medicine, a M.Phil. from Cambridge University, and a BA from Harvard University. Additionally, he served as an officer and platoon commander in an infantry battalion of the Israel Defense Forces.

He remains clinically active in pain medicine, and continues to conduct clinical trials, and teach and mentor fellows, residents and students. He serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Pain Practice and Co-Editor of Bonica’s Management of Pain. He is internationally known for his expertise in the design and conduct of clinical trials for novel, minimally invasive therapies for spinal pain that help patients recover without the need for spine surgery. He is currently the Principal Investigator of the MODEL Phase 3 trial and Co-Principal Investigator of the RESTORE trial. He serves on the Board of Governors of the American Hospital of Paris.

Bio

Dr. Milan Stojanovic

Physician, Chair of WIP Congress Scientific Committee

Dr. Stojanovic was the principal founder of the Interventional pain program at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, where he served as its Director for 12 years. He had the unique experience of training and mentoring many respected leaders in the field of interventional pain for the last 31 years. He is a Chair, Educational Committee for the World Institute of Pain (WIP) and is an examiner for the Fellow in Interventional Pain Practice (FIPP) examination. Dr. Stojanovic is currently teaching fellows and practicing at the Mass General Brigham Pain Management Center, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is Director of the Interventional Pain Clinic at the Bedford VA Healthcare and works at the Boston VA Healthcare System where he served as Chief, Pain Medicine, Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine Service. Dr. Stojanovic is an inaugural Editor-in-Chief, of Interventional Pain Medicine journal, the official journal of the International Pain & Spine Intervention Society (IPSIS). He served as a Director at Large for the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP) and was a co-founder and co-owner of the Spine and Pain Institute of New England. He did his post-doctoral residency training in internal medicine, pediatrics, and anesthesiology, and completed two pain management fellowships. Dr. Stojanovic has a unique experience, combining many years of both academic and private practice of interventional pain medicine. He has dedicated his career to improving technical expertise and excellence in interventional procedures, outcome measurement, teaching, and clinical research.
13th World Congress of the World Institute of Pain

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