Mayday Fellows
The Mayday Pain & Society Fellowship: Communicating Science & Improving Care
The Mayday Fellowship is now accepting applications for 2025-2026. Applications are due Friday, May 30, 2025, by 11:59 p.m. Eastern.
Find more information and download the application below.
About the Fellowship
The MAYDAY Fund has long encouraged pain experts to assume public leadership roles to help end human suffering from pain through public discourse about research, best practices in care and policy. From 2004 to 2015, this public engagement and leadership training was provided through the “Mayday Pain & Society Fellowship: A Media and Policy Initiative,” which provided 60 Fellows with communication and public outreach skills. This initiative was based on the belief that experts would increase their effectiveness in advancing the field of pain management and ensuring better care for patients by enhancing their communication skills.
Building on this experience, The MAYDAY Fund is launching a new Fellowship in 2018 to build the next generation of pain experts who can provide evidence-based and solutions-focused information about pain care and treatment, as well as promising research emerging in the field.
The new Fellowship will provide a three-day communication workshop in Washington, D.C., for clinicians and researchers based in the United States or Canada who are passionate about improving pain care and who are dedicated to building communications skills and strategies aimed to reduce human suffering from acute and chronic pain. The Fund will seek applicants working on research and evidence-based approaches to advance what is known about pain and how to best care for it. Targeted work might include: sharing critical research on the science of pain and on emerging evidence-based treatments, fixes to how pain is addressed in the health care system, training for frontline clinicians, sharing critical research on the science of pain and on emerging evidence-based treatments, and on addressing the disparities in care.
The application criteria and Fellowship requirements are included in the application below.
Training & Coaching
The 2023-2024 Mayday Fellows participated in a three-day training workshop held in Washington, D.C., from Sunday, October 6th, through Wednesday, October 9th, 2024. Following the workshop, each Fellow will receive five hours of coaching support from a member of the coaching faculty at Burness to identify communications activities that they will complete within one year of the training.
There are no tuition costs. All travel, seminars, and communications coaching will be covered by The MAYDAY Fund.
Apply Now
The Mayday Fellowship is now accepting applications for 2025-2026. Applications are due Friday, May 30, 2025, by 11:59 p.m. Eastern.
View and download the application and read the press release announcing the application period here.
Mayday Fellows
2024-25 Mayday Fellows
Mark Bicket, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, University of Michigan; Co-Director, Overdose Prevention Engagement Network
Rachael Bosma, PhD
Co-Director, University of Toronto Centre for the Study of Pain, Research Lead, Women’s College Hospital; Chair of the Board of Directors, Pain Ontario
Michael Burton, PhD
Eugene McDermott Distinguished Associate Professor, The University of Texas at Dallas
Beth Darnall, PhD
Professor, Stanford University School of Medicine; Director, Stanford Pain Relief Innovations Lab
Salman Hirani, MD
Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Division of Pain Medicine; Director of Innovation and Board of Directors, American Academy of Pain Medicine
Lisa Isaac, MD
Staff Anesthesiologist, Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, Hospital for Sick Children; Associate Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
Abirami Kandasamy, PhD, C. Psych, MA
Co-Lead, Pediatric Pain Program; Adjunct Clinical Professor Children’s Hospital, London Health Sciences, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University
Rajesh Khanna, PhD, MSc
Richard and Thelma O.C. Barney Term Professor of Pharmacology & Therapeutics; Director, Pain and Addiction Therapeutics (PATH) Collaboratory, University of Florida
Karim Ladha, MD, MSc
Evelyn Bateman Recipe Chair in Ambulatory Anesthesia and Women’s Health, Women’s College Hospital; Associate Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Toronto
Laura Simons, PhD
Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine (Pediatric), Stanford University Medical School
Jaris Swidrovich, BSP, PharmD, PhD
Assistant Professor and Indigenous Engagement Lead, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto
Zina Trost, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A & M University
2023-24 Mayday Fellows
Staja “Star”” Booker, PhD, RN
Assistant Professor, University of Florida
Tania Di Renna, Bsc, MD, FRCPC
Associate Professor, Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, University of Toronto; Medical Director, Toronto Academic Pain Medicine Institute
Amy L. Drendel, DO, MS
Professor of Pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin; Interim Section Chief, Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Shravani Durbhakula, MD, MPH, MBA
Assistant Professor, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Juan Hincapie-Castillo, PharmD, MS, PhD
Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; President, Board of Directors, National Pain Advocacy Center
Deepa Kattail, MD, MHS, FAAP
Pediatric Anesthesiologist & Pain Physician, The Hospital for Sick Children
Vani A. Mathur, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences & Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University
Virginia McIntyre, BA, RTR, RTMR
President and Executive Director, People in Pain Network; National Advisory Committee, Pain Canada
Melanie Noel, PhD, RPsych
Professor, Department of Psychology, Killam Memorial Emerging Leader Chair, University of Calgary
E. Alfonso Romero-Sandoval, MD, PhD
Professor of Anesthesiology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Melissa Santos, PhD
Division Head of Pediatric Psychology, Associate Chair for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Connecticut Children’s
Janiece Taylor, PhD, RN, FAAN
Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing
Past Fellows
You can view a complete list of past Fellows here.
Advisory Committee
A multi-disciplinary Advisory Committee, comprising leaders working in the United States and Canada, will evaluate applicants with a clear passion for communicating evidence-based pain management strategies or research on basic and translational science to address pain. The Committee seeks those who want to bring their expertise to bear on public discourse, policy discussions, or in support of more research to improve knowledge about and access to pain treatment. The Advisory Committee is selected by the staff of the Mayday Fund in consultation with staff at Burness. Burness is responsible for the recruitment, selection and management of the Fellowship. The Advisory Committee is responsible for the selection of Fellows, and the staff and Board of the Mayday Fund do not weigh in on the selection of Fellows.
Advisory Committee For 2025-2026 Fellowship:
Samina Ali, MD
Professor, Pediatrics & Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta; Chair, Pediatric Emergency Research Canada (PERC); Western Canada Hub Lead, Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP); Research Director, Pediatric Emergency Medicine, University of Alberta; 2019 Mayday Fellow
Christine Chambers, PhD, RPsych
Professor, Departments of Psychology & Neuroscience and Pediatrics, Dalhousie University; Scientific Director, Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP); 2012 Mayday Fellow
Hance Clarke, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine and Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto; President, Canadian Pain Society; Staff Anesthesiologist, Director Pain Services Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network; Canada Research Chair – Chronic Pain, Mental Health & Substance Use; 2019 Mayday Fellow
Renee C.B. Manworren, PhD, APRN, FAAN
Elizabeth C. Poster Endowed Professor and PhD Program Director, College of Nursing and Health Innovation, The University of Texas at Arlington; 2012 Mayday Fellow
Linda Porter, PhD
Former Director, Office of Pain Policy and Planning, National Institutes of Health; Co-chair, Federal Pain Research Strategy and National Pain Strategy, Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee, National Institutes of Health
Gregory Terman, MD, PhD
Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine and the Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Washington; 2011 Mayday Fellow
Erin Y. Young, PhD
Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology, Pain and Perioperative Medicine; Director, Clinician Scientist and Research Track; Medical Student Research Liaison; Department of Anesthesiology, University of Kansas Medical Center; 2019 Mayday Fellow