Twelve experts in pain science and care from the United States and Canada have been selected as Fellows of the Mayday Pain & Society Fellowship: Communicating Science & Improving Care, the Mayday Fund announced July 20. The fellowship program focuses on enhancing communication and advocacy skills to improve pain care.
The new Fellows represent a range of disciplines, including psychology, anesthesiology, patient advocacy, and neuroscience. They were chosen from 32 applicants by a multi-disciplinary Advisory Committee comprised of leaders in pain-related fields. Christina Spellman, executive director of the Mayday Fund, said, “The newest Mayday Fellows have fresh, unique ideas for the future of pain care. We at Mayday look forward to witnessing how the Mayday Pain & Society Fellowship will expand their communications skills to help them take these visions further to benefit people in pain across the lifespan. The Fellowship will bring their expertise more directly to those who need these leadership skills more than ever in the field’s efforts to better manage both acute and chronic pain.”
The program includes a three-day workshop in Washington, D.C., from October 18-21, 2026, led by trainers and coaches from Burness, a public interest communications firm. During the workshop, Fellows will learn to communicate and advocate for the translation of scientific research and evidence-based best practices in pain care and management. After the workshop, individualized coaching will support Fellows in pursuing their advocacy goals.
The 2026-2027 Fellows join more than 120 experts from previous classes of the Mayday Pain & Society Fellowship, which operated from 2004 through 2015 and relaunched in 2018. Spellman said, “The Mayday Fund Board of Directors and Advisors sends congratulations to the newest class of Fellows. With decreased trust in science, the communications tools these Fellows acquire will help guide the pain field through this challenging time and into the next phases of pain care in the U.S. and Canada.”
The Mayday Fund was established in 1992 to further Shirley Steinman Katzenbach’s commitment to social and medical causes, with a mission focused on the treatment of pain. The organization is a 501(c)(3) charitable entity and engages in philanthropic grant activities targeting the alleviation of pain. The name Mayday commemorates the date of Katzenbach’s birth and is derived from the international distress signal, taken from the French “m’aidez” or “help me.”
More information about the fellowship and the full list of Fellows and Advisory Committee members is available at www.maydayfellowship.org.
