Presidential Task Force: Guidelines for the Use of Laboratory Animals in Pain Research

This workshop is anchored to IASP’s Presidential Task Force “Guidelines for the Use of Laboratory Animals in Pain Research” (2024–2026; co-chairs Esther Pogatzki-Zahn and Anne-Marie Heegaard). The Task Force’s mission is to update the 1983 “Zimmermann” guideline, and develop a new set of recommendations, which aim to minimize harm to animals and maximize scientific and societal benefit. The Task Force consists of the two co-chairs, and 28 experts from many different fields related to preclinical pain research including the 3Rs (https://www.iasp-pain.org/group/use-of-laboratory-animals-in-pain-research-presidential-task-force/). The Task Force decided to perform a stepwise approach to generate guidelines based on scoping reviews, group discussions and a modified Delphi approach (preregistration: https://osf.io/pg9w7). After intense discussions about broad content, six working groups were established which span Ethics, Internal Validity, Reporting, Animal Models of Pain, Animal Testing for Pain, Pain Reduction in Animal Studies, and miscellaneous aspects. Patient involvement, dissemination and implementation are topics which are relevant in the process as well. After scoping reviews and subgroup discussions, recommendations were developed within the six working groups, which were again discussed with the full group, before a 3-step Delphi approach was initiated. This Delphi process will align on the final recommendations which will be ready for approval in February 2026.
The aim of this workshop is to introduce the new guidelines and to present and discuss with the pain community three pertinent topics.
Program:
Chairs: Anne-Marie Heegaard and Esther Pogatzki-Zahn (Co-Chairs of the Task Force)
Introduction to the guidelines: New guidelines on laboratory use of animals in pain research: why, how and what? (Esther Pogatzki-Zahn). Short, 15-minute scene-setter— which will delineate the process of developing the new ethical guidelines: why, how, and what has been done, present some of the recommendations and their practical implications for preclinical pain research.
Thereafter, three different topics will be addressed. Each topic will be briefly introduced and then discussed by an interactive panel where audience input via polls, case vignettes, and evidence snapshots sparks dynamic discussion. A focused Q&A then draws out practical consensus and highlights key disagreements for deeper understanding
Topic 1: Analgesia in animal models of pain - challenges and controversies (Sara Hestehave): How can we use analgesia to minimize harm from the model induction and other procedures without compromising the scientific objectives?
Topic 2: Patient involvement in preclinical programs – benefits and controversies (Nader Ghasemlou): How can patient involvement improve preclinical pain research? What constitutes “meaningful” involvement without tokenism, role descriptions across the study lifecycle.
Topic 3: Dissemination and implementation - a global challenge (Jun Sato): How do we get the new ethical guidelines disseminated and adapted to researchers, ethics committees and journals across the world?

Target groups:
Preclinical pain scientists; laboratory veterinarians; animal care and welfare staff.
IACUC/REC/ethics committee members and institutional oversight professionals.
Methodologists, statisticians, and reproducibility/rigor leads.
Journal editors and peer reviewers handling animal pain studies.
Funders and program officers setting expectations for ethical and methodological quality.
Early-career researchers seeking concrete templates for responsible, reproducible work.