Oxford Senior Research Fellow and Associate Professor in the Nuffield Department of Women’s and Reproductive Health Dr Katy Vincent spoke about her experience of leading the Pain in Women research group in recognition of International Women’s Day 2024.
Dr Vincent was appointed to the role of NIHR Oxford Senior Research Fellow and received an award of £5,000 a year to two years to facilitate the development of interventions for women with chronic pain.
She said: “I have always had an interest in women’s health and during the early years of my clinical training became very aware of how common pain is for women, what a huge impact it has on their lives, yet how little we know about how best to treat it. It is both exciting and rewarding to have the opportunity to make a difference to the lives of teenagers and women by focussing on pains which have all too frequently dismissed as “normal” in the past.
“Chronic pain is unfortunately very common and women suffer with almost all chronic pain conditions to a much greater extent than men.
“Women, of course, can also experience female-specific pain in their pelvis, including period pain (dysmenorrhoea) and endometriosis.
“I lead the Pain in Women group which focuses on two aspects of pain specific to women. Firstly, we aim to better understand the mechanisms that cause gynaecological pain conditions such as dysmenorrhoea and endometriosis-associated pain.
“To do this we combine a variety of different experimental techniques including questionnaires, brain imaging and measures assessing sensitivity to a variety of stimuli (e.g. heat, cold, pin-prick, bladder filling). We have shown how similar these conditions are to other types of chronic pain and are using this information to think about new approaches to treating these pain conditions.
“Secondly, we are investigating the relationship between steroid hormones and pain and if steroid hormones interact with known internal pain-modulating mechanisms. In the long-term we hope to be able to find better ways to use hormonal medications (on their own or with other specific painkillers) to reduce pain and improve the quality of life for women with chronic pain, whatever its original cause.
“I am privileged to work with an excellent multi-disciplinary team delivering NHS pelvic pain clinics in The Women’s Centre at the John Radcliffe Hospital. I also feel passionate about the importance of optimising quality of life and reproductive health during adolescence and run an NHS adolescent gynaecology clinic.
“Women’s pain is a relatively small field and most people who choose to focus on this area are really passionate about what they do and it is exciting to see how much progress is being made.”
Dr Katy Vincent was one of the researchers from a wide range of disciplines who has been appointed to be the next cohort of NIHR Oxford Senior Research Fellows – seven mid-career researchers identified as having the potential to become future translational research leaders.
