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Pain Management, Research and Education Centre
The Pain Management, Research and Education Centre (Pain Centre) is a leading international paediatric centre specializing in pain prevention and treatment. We aim to prevent and minimize pain for all children in a family-centered environment by fostering collaboration, excellence, integrity, and innovation between interprofessional teams that integrate clinical care, education, and research.
Mission: To prevent and minimize pain for all children in a family-centered care environment by fostering collaboration, excellence, integrity and innovation between inter-professional teams that integrate high quality clinical care, education, and research.
Vision: To be the leading international pediatric centre in pain prevention and management.
The SickKids Pain Centre is one of only four institutions in the country with certification from ChildKind, an international organization that recognizes health-care institutions that provide excellent pain care for children. The Centre is also Central Canada’s regional hub for the national mobilization network, Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP).
Pain Centre Organizational Chart (PDF)
The SickKids Pain Centre is co-directed by Dr. Fiona Campbell, and Dr. Jennifer Stinson, and includes prominent scientists, clinician leaders, and partners from top national and international paediatric organizations. The Centre collaborates with top international research scientists to lead ground-breaking projects across the fields of clinical and basic science.
We host the internationally recognized training program Pain in Child Health (PICH) and lead outstanding local and global initiatives in paediatric pain (hosting educational events, creating educational materials for healthcare professionals, kids, and families, and funding research competitions).
We ensure safe and effective pain practice for children by providing leadership for local and global paediatric pain initiatives. We’re continuously building on our culture of appropriate expectations for pain through pain management, research, and education initiatives.
We work with all types of health-care professionals, providing access to the most current evidence-based recommendations, resources and training opportunities.
Pediatric Pain Management Standard
Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP) and the Health Standards Organization (HSO) are pleased to announce Canada’s first national Pediatric Pain Management standard, establishing a set of guidelines for the delivery of pain management for children from birth to 19 years. The standard provides guidance to health care organizations on how to deliver equitable and quality pain management across hospital settings.
The SickKids Pain Centre is a regional hub for Solutions for Kids in Pain, a national knowledge mobilization network, whose mission is to improve children's pain management by mobilizing evidence-based solutions in Canadian health institutions.
PICH is an international, innovative cross disciplinary research training consortium with a community of scholars in pediatric pain.
Paediatric Project ECHO has four accredited curricula delivered by SickKids - paediatric pain management, complex care, obesity management, and palliative care. Each live ECHO session aims cultivate an all-teach, all-learn community of practice and includes a didactic presentation, Q&A and a case discussion. Find out more about what other ECHO participants have to say, annual reports and academic posters on the Paediatric Project ECHO Impact page.
Annual Pain Centre Conference
The Annual Pain Centre Conference targets health-care professionals/trainees, researchers, policy makers and patients and families and addresses key themes in EDI, mental health and COVID-19.
Pain Centre membership for healthcare professionals
In partnership with patients, researchers, and front-line clinicians, the free SK Pain Centre membership includes prominent scientists and clinician leaders, and partners with impactful national and international paediatric organizations.
The Premature Infant Pain Profile-Revised (PIPP-R)
The Premature Infant Pain Profile-Revised (PIPP-R) is a well-established, valid and reliable neonatal pain assessment measure, and the accompanying PIPP-R e-Learning Module is a user-friendly on-line educational tool developed to provide clinicians with the knowledge and skills to administer this measure in practice. Module content covers differences and similarities between the original PIPP and PIPP-R measures, defines the pain indicators that form the basis of the PIPP-R, and includes a variety of engaging and interactive strategies (illustrations, quizzes, and case studies) to teach users how to score pain in term, preterm, and extremely low gestational age neonates.
A Toolkit to Prevent and Minimize Pain in Infants
This toolkit was recently pilot tested in Ghana and includes two flip charts:
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- Healthcare Professional Flip Charts: help guide the process of pain practice change in neonatal intensive care units with evidence on age appropriate pain management and assessment practices and knowledge translation tools.
- Parent Flip Charts: provide guidance on how parents can be involved in managing their infant’s pain.
Clinical Practice Guidelines
Pain in Child Health (PICH) program
The PICH research training initiative at SickKids has transformed Canada into a world leader in paediatric pain research, bringing the international paediatric pain research community together across several collaborative efforts.
PICH has cultivated a tight-knit community of scientists and trainees dedicated to learning and informing changes in practice to minimize pain and suffering of children around the globe.
Online Paediatric Pain Curriculum
The Online Paediatric Pain Curriculum (OPPC) is a free, mobile friendly, broad education platform created by over 40 authors based on the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) core curriculum to learn about pain with clinical, basic science and ethical themes. It consists of 13 modules that take 20–25 minutes each and offers a certificate of completion. It has been used internationally and has reach in low-to-middle income countries.
Research
The Pain Centre administers pain-focused grant competitions and directs outcome evaluation for Pain Centre-sponsored research initiatives.
Seed Grant
The Garron Family Cancer Centre and the Pain Management, Research and Education Centre (Pain Centre) accepts funding applications for clinical research projects at the intersection of paediatric cancer and pain.
Recently, the two seed grants, with a maximum budget of $10,000 per grant over the course of a year, have been awarded to:
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Dr. Lindsay Jibb, Quynh Pham, Sue Zupanec, Paul Nathan, Alicia Kilfoy, and Susan Kuczynski (Project: Building digital capacity for family caregivers to manage young children's cancer pain: An app usability testing study)
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Giulia Mesaroli, Dr. Jennifer Stinson, Dr. Paul Nathan, Dr Nicole Alberts, Dr. Tieghan Killackey, and Maryam Khraishi (Project: Pain experiences in adolescent cancer survivors: A mixed methods typology analysis)
Read the full 2025 Seed Grant Guidelines (PDF)
Selected publications
2024
B. Stevens, M. Bueno, M. Barwick, M. Campbell-Yeo, C. Chambers, C. Estabrooks, R. Flynn, S. Gibbins, D. Harrison, W. Isaranuwatchai, S. LeMay, M. Noel, J. Stinson, A. Synnes, C. Victor, J. Yamada. (2024).The Implementation of Infant Pain Practice Change (ImPaC) Resource to improve infant procedural pain practices: A hybrid type 1 effectiveness-implementation study. Pain. DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003496.
B. Stevens, M. Ballantyne, M. Bueno, M. Campbell-Yeo, C. Estabrooks, S. Gibbins, D. Harrison, C. McNair, S. Riahi, J. Squires, A. Synnes, A. Taddio, C. Victor, J. Yamada. (2024). Cumulative Sucrose Exposure for Repeated Procedural Pain in Preterm Neonates and Neurodevelopment at 18-Months Corrected Age: A Prospective Observational Longitudinal Study. BMJ Open. DOI: 10.1136/bmjpo-2024-002604.
M. Bueno, M. Rao, P. Aujla, C. Victor, B. Stevens. (2024). A scoping review of the epidemiology and treatment of painful procedures in hospitalized neonates: What has changed in the past three decades? European Journal of Pain. DOI: 10.1002/ejp.2294.
2023
M. Bueno, M. Ballantyne, M. Campbell-Yeo, C. Estabrooks, S. Gibbins, D. Harrison, C. McNair, S. Riahi, J. Squires, A. Synnes, A. Taddio, C. Victor, J. Yamada, B. Stevens. (2023). The effectiveness of repeated sucrose for procedural pain in neonates in a longitudinal observational study. Frontiers in Pain Research. DOI: 10.3389/fpain.20230.1110502.
M. Bueno, J. Yamada, L. Candido, J. Hu, B. Stevens. (2023) Sucrose analgesia for venepuncture in neonates. Cochrane Database for Systematic Reviews. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD015221.
J. Yamada, M. Bueno, L. Santos, S. Haliburton, M. Campbell-Yeo, B. Stevens. (2023). Sucrose analgesia for heel-lance procedures in neonates. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 8(8). DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD014806.
M. Bueno, M. Ballantyne, M. Campbell-Yeo, C. Estabrooks, S. Gibbins, D. Harrison, C. McNair, S. Riahi, J. Squires, A. Synnes, A. Taddio, C. Victor, J. Yamada, B. Stevens. (2023). A longitudinal observational study on the epidemiology of painful procedures and sucrose administration in hospitalized preterm neonates. Paediatric and Neonatal Pain, 1-9. DOI:10.1002/pne2.12114.
E. Annan, TS. Ramukumba, B. Stevens (2023). Perspectives of nurses regarding pain assessment and management during routine infant vaccination in Ghana. Nursing Open, DOI: 10.1002/nop2.1772.
O.M. Kyololo, B. Stevens, J. Songok (2023). Photo-Elicitation technique: Utility and challenges in clinical research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 16(22). DOI:10.1177/16094069231165714.
C.M. Dale, I. Cioffi, C.B. Novak, F. Gorospe, L. Murphy, D. Chugh, J. Watt-Watson, B. Stevens. (2023). Continuing professional development needs in pain management for Canadian health care professionals: A cross sectional survey. Canadian Journal of Pain, 7(1). DOI:10.1080/24740527.2022.2150156.
E. Annan, TS. Ramukumba, B. Stevens (2023). Perspectives of nurses regarding pain assessment and management during routine infant vaccination in Ghana. Nursing Open, DOI: 10.1002/nop2.1772.
2022
M. Campbell-Yeo, L. Carrier, B. Benoit, T. Kim, M. Bueno, M. Rao, S. Riahi, B. Stevens. Evaluation of the Premature Infant Pain Profile-Revised (PIPP-R) e-Learning Module: Immediate and Sustained Competency. (2022). Advances in Neonatal Care, 22(3):246-252. DOI: 10.1097.0000000000000922.
B. Stevens, M. Bueno, M. Rao, C. Almeida, A. Cote, L. Streitenberger, B. Fleming-Carroll, K. Breen-Reid. (2022). An Exploratory Case Study Investigating the Implementation of a Novel Knowledge Translation Strategy in a Pandemic: The Pandemic Practice Champion.Implementation Science Communications, 3(45). DOI: 10.1186/s43058.022.00294.2.
C. M. Dale, I. Cioffi, L. Murphy, S. Langlois, R. Musa, B. Stevens.(2022) Ten-year mixed method evaluation of pre-licensure health student self-reported learning in an interfaculty pain curriculum. Pain Reports.7(5):e1030. DOI: 10.1097/PR9.00000000000001030.
2021
M. Bueno, B. Stevens, M. Rao, S. Riahi, M. Campbell-Yeo, L. Carrier, B. Benoit. (2021). Implementation and Evaluation of the Premature Infant Pain Profile – Revised (PIPP-R) e-Learning Module for Assessing Pain in Infants. The Clinical Journal of Pain, 37(5):372-378. DOI: 10.1097/AJP.0000000000000925.
M. Campbell-Yeo, L. Carrier, B. Benoit, T. Kim, M. Bueno, M. Rao, S. Riahi, B.
Stevens. (2021). Evaluation of the Premature Infant Pain Profile-Revised (PIPP-R) e-Learning module: Immediate and Sustained Competency. Advances in Neonatal Care, Published online ahead of print. DOI: 10.1097/ANC.0000000000000922.
I. Cioffi, C. Dale, L. Murphy, S. Langlois, R. Musa, B. Stevens. (2021). Ten years of Interfaculty Pain Curriculum (IPC) at the University of Toronto: Impact on Student Learning. Pain Reports, 6(4):e974. DOI: 10.1097/PR9.0000000000000974.
2020
M. Bueno, B. Stevens, M. Rao, MA. Barwick, C. Chambers, M. Campbell-Yeo, C. Estabrooks, S. Gibbins, D. Harrison, W. Isaranuwatchai, S. Le May, M. Noel, J. Slotta, J. Stinson, A. Synnes, A. Willan, J. Yamada, S. Riahi, N. Gill, S-A. Li (2020). Usability, acceptability and feasibility of the Implementation of Pain Practice Change (ImPaC) Resource. Paediatric and Neonatal Pain. DOI: 10.1002/pne2.12027.
C. McNair, A. Taddio, L. Franck, M. McAllister, L. Burry, B. Stevens, V. Shah, N. Chirinian. (2020). Meta-synthesis of factors influencing parental participation in the provision of comfort measures in the NICU. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing. 49(3): 263-271. DOI: 10.1016/j.jogn.2020.02.007.
C. Graham, G. Chaves, R. Harrison, L. Gauthier, R. Nissim, C. Zimmermann, V. Chan, G. Rodin, B. Stevens, L. Gagliese. (2020). Healthcare professionals’ reports of cancer pain cues among older people with delirium: a qualitative-quantitative content analysis. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.01.021.
M. Bueno, B. Stevens, MA Barwick, S. Riahi. S-A Li, A. Lanese, A. Willan, A. Synnes, CA. Estabrooks, C. Chambers, D. Harrison, J. Yamada, J. Stinson, M. Campbell-Yeo, M. Noel, S. Gibbins, S. LeMay, W. Isaranuwatchai. (2020). A cluster randomized clinical trial to evaluate the effectiveness of the Implementation of Infant Pain Practice Change (ImPaC) Resource to improve pain practices in hospitalized infants: a study protocol. Trials. 21(1): 16. DOI: 10.1186/s13063-019-3782-9.
Internal researchers
- Dr. Michael Salter
- Dr. Steven Prescott
- Dr. Jennifer Stinson
- Dr. Bonnie Stevens
- Dr. Benjamin Steinberg
- Dr. Lindsay Jibb
Associate scientists
Research Associates
- Dr. Chitra Lalloo
Project Investigators
- Dr. Fiona Campbell
- Dr. Naiyi Sun
- Dr. Danielle Ruskin
- Dr. Sasha Litwin
External researchers
The Implementation of Infant Pain Practice Change (ImPaC) Resource is evidence-based, online and interactive, designed to guide health care teams through a practice change process to improve infant pain assessment and management. ImPaC provides a step by step approach to guide users through pain practice change with tools to support the process. Local, national and international knowledge users, researchers, content experts and policy makers have been a part of the iterative design of ImPaC. Further development of ImPaC is in progress for both national and international audiences.
ImPaC is produced by the Hospital for Sick Children and is supported by funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Visit the ImPaC Resource Website at https://impac.research.sickkids.ca
Recent knowledge translation Materiala
- Canadian Pain Society Poster (2025)
- ImPaC Infographic
- The implementation of infant pain practice change resource to improve infant procedural pain practices: a hybrid type 1 effectiveness-implementation study (PAIN 2024)
- 16th Annual Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation Health Presentation (2023)
Associated programs and services
The Pain Centre is associated with several SickKids programs and departments.
- Department of Anesthesia & Pain Medicine
- Nursing
- Department of Paediatrics
- Pharmacy Department
- Department of Psychology
- Department of Psychiatry
- Child Life and Rehabilitation Services
- Child Health Evaluative Sciences and Neuroscience & Mental Health Programs within the Research Institute
Clinical services for patients and families
Support services for patients and families
Sign up for a free Pain Centre membership
Both health-care professionals and patients & families can register for a free SickKids Pain Centre membership! Get access to resources, opportunities and events in pain management, education/knowledge mobilization and research.
Register online through the links below!
For health-care professionals For patients and families
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