Dr Didier Bouhassira (MD, PhD) has been trained in neurology and neurophysiology in Paris. He has been involved in both basic and clinical research on pain and is currently Director of Research at the National Institut for Health and Medical Research (Inserm). He is associate attending neurologist in the Pain Clinic at Ambroise Paré hospital in Boulogne-Billancourt and director of the laboratory of "Pathophysiology and Clinical Pharmacology of Pain" (Inserm U-987). Didier Bouhassira is an active member of several international associations or societies and has been president of the French Pain Society. He has been field editor for the European Journal of Pain for over twelve years and is currently associate editor for several scientific journals. He has co-authored over 200 articles in peer reviewed journals and has written a number of book chapters devoted to the pharmacology and pathophysiology of pain.