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Pain Science Research Fund

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Time flies when you’re having fun! Twenty years ago, like-minded therapists formed what is now known as International Spine and PainInstitute (ISPI). As ISPI grew, one foundational part also grew – research! Since the inception of ISPI, we have published dozens and dozens of research papers associated with pain science, manual therapy and rehabilitation – under The Therapeutic Neuroscience Research Group (TNRG).

Our research is, and always has been, completely self-funded. A big part of the pain science movement is anti-biomedical and against the current status quo of more injections; more medicine and more surgery. We are proud of what we have done; keep doing and plan on doing – helping people in pain.

As we have travelled all over the world the last 20 years, we have met many like-minded people willing to fight this fight. Now, with the 20-year anniversary and our growing scope of research, we’re asking our loyal followers to help us reach a goal: Help us fund the next wave of pain science research with our 20-for-20 campaign. We aim to raise at least $20,000 to fund various research projects (below). This is your chance to be part of something amazing; support us and help the (pain) world be a better place.

As our list of potential research projects grows, so does our need to build a sufficient research fund. Your donation could pay for designing various presentations, printing patient education guides, or hiring staff to perform data-entry and other clerical duties. A pressing issue, following our exciting initial research projects, is the development of a PNE video to show in middle schools across the country.


TNRG is made up of industry leaders in Pain Neuroscience Education and conducts clinically applicable research for physical therapy. By donating to our fund, you are helping the profession of physical therapy and rehabilitation as a whole and anyone who suffers from pain. Our aim is to increase awareness of the benefits of physical therapy and non-pharmacological treatment of chronic pain.

Completed research topics include:

• Utilizing PNE before major surgeries
• Efficacy of remote PNE via email
• Physical therapists experiencing low back pain
• A systematic review of sham surgery
• PNE training for PT students

Current and ongoing research projects include:
• Teaching PNE to middle school students
• PNE for PTSD/Mild TBI sufferers
• PNE for whiplash
• PNE training for medical providers
• PNE for administrative/support personnel
• Pain experiences among farmers

Future research projects we are planning:
• The use of virtual reality for pain reduction
• PNE for frozen shoulder and headaches
• Burnout among physical therapists
• PNE and opioid use
• Delivering PNE via telehealth
• Development of a PNE curriculum for middle schools
• Clinical application of neurodynamics


Our research is, and always has been, completely self-funded for various reasons. PNE is generally misunderstood and goes directly against the current big pharma based medical model. Writing grant proposals drastically slows down the process and takes time away from the research itself.

As our list of potential research projects grows, so does our need to build a sufficient research fund. Your donation could pay for designing various presentations, printing patient education guides, or hiring staff to perform data-entry and other clerical duties. A pressing issue is the development of a PNE video to show in middle schools across the country.

Our team has published 52 research papers to date (examples include):
• Preoperative therapeutic neuroscience education for lumbar radiculopathy
    Louw, Puentedura, Diener, Peoples
• The efficacy of pain neuroscience education on musculoskeletal pain
    Louw, Zimney, Puentedura, Diener
• The clinical application of teaching people about pain
    Louw, Zimney, O’Hotto, Hilton
• A neuroscience approach to managing athletes with low back pain
    Puentedura, Louw
• Preoperative pain neuroscience education for lumbar radiculopathy
    Louw, Diener, Landers, Puentedura

Our senior research team members are (view full bios here):
• Adriaan Louw PT, PhD, CSMT, TPS
    Co-founder and CEO of ISPI
    Director of TNRG
• Emilio J. ‘Louie’ Puentedura PT, DPT, PhD, OCS, FAAOMPT
• Kory J. Zimney PT, DPT, CSMT (PhD candidate)
• Ina Diener PT, PhD
• Stephen Schmidt PT, M.Phys, OCS, FAAOMPT
• Terry Cox PT, OCS, FAAOMPT (PhD candidate)
• Jessie Podolak PT, DPT, TPS
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Donations 

  • JRH Brewing
    • $145 
    • 5 yrs
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Organizer and beneficiary

Adriaan Louw
Organizer
Story City, IA
Adriaan Louw
Beneficiary

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