Dear Friends & Colleagues,
It is with great pleasure that we invite you to attend The 5th International Congress on Controversies in Fibromyalgia (Fibromyalgia2023) which will take place 30-31 March 2023 in Vienna, Austria.
Even as our understanding regarding the pathogenesis and neuroscience underlying fibromyalgia and chronic pain rapidly expand and proliferate in recent years, heated controversies remain regarding many aspects of fibromyalgia, regarding its place in medicine and society and regarding the best ways to alleviate suffering.
Fibromyalgia2023 will again expose and shed constructive light on some of these more central controversies, honoring diversity of opinion as well as attempting to forge understanding and a basis for collaboration down the road.
The Congress will welcome researchers, clinicians, Fibromyalgia specialists, pain specialists, treatment experts, rehabilitation & occupational health specialists and other professionals.
The congress will focus on the following key areas:
- Neuro-biological Underpinnings of Fibromyalgia and Centralized Pain
- Classification, Diagnosis, Epidemiology and the Evolving Concept of Fibromyalgia
- Genetics, Pharmacogenentics, and Epigenetics
- Treatment of Fibromyalgia
- Complex CNS
- “Transparent Pain”: How Society Deals with Fibromyalgia
We look forward to meeting you at Fibromyalgia2023 in the beautiful city of Vienna.
Sincerely,
Jacob Ablin
Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Israel
Piercarlo Sarzi-Puttini
IRCCS Ospedale Galeazzi – Sant'Ambrogio, Italy
General
Information
Congress Venue, Travel Information, Invitation Letter for Visa Purposes
Journal Publication
All accepted abstracts are published in Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology journal
Meet Our Speakers
David Bulmer
University of Cambridge, UK
Dr David Bulmer is an Associate Professor in Gastrointestinal Pharmacology within the School of Biological Sciences at the University of…
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Luda Diatchenko
McGill University, Canada
Luda Diatchenko, MD, PhD is a Canada Research Chair in Human Pain Genetics and a Professor at the Faculty of…
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Eva Kosek
Karolinska Institute, Sweden
Eva Kosek, MD, PhD is holding positions as full Professor in Clinical Pain Research at Karolinska Institute, Stockholm and at…
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Michaela Kress
Medical University Innsbruck, Austria
Michaela Kress is full professor at the Department of Physiology and Biomedical Physics Medical University of Innsbruck in Austria. Her…
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Shafaq Sikandar
Queen Mary University of London, UK
Dr Shafaq Sikandar is a senior lecturer at the William Harvey Research Institute and group leader of the Sensory Neurophysiology…
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Camilla Svensson
Karolinska Institute, Sweden
Prof. Camilla Svensson received her Ph.D in 2005 from University of California, San Diego (UCSD) on work focused on spinal…
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Christopher Sivert Nielsen
Institute of Public Health, Norway
Dr. Christopher Sivert Nielsen is a senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and at Oslo University Hospital.…
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Gary J. Macfarlane
University of Aberdeen, UK
Gary Macfarlane is Dean for Interdisciplinary Research and Research Impact. He has also held the Chair in Epidemiology (Clinical) at…
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Congress Program
08:00
Registration
09:00
Welcome and Opening of the Congress
Jacob Ablin, Israel and Piercarlo Sarzi-Puttini, Italy
09:10
Session 1: To be or not to be (a separate syndrome)? The fibromyalgia conundrum in a nociplastic world of pain
09:10-09:30
Year in review: Fibromyalgia and chronic pain
Valeria Giorgi
IRCCS Galeazzi - Sant'Ambrogio, Milan, Italy
09:30-09:50
What's new with chronic fatigue? Insights into mechanisms of fatigue in a post – COVID era
Piercarlo Sarzi-Puttini
IRCCS Ospedale Galeazzi – Sant'Ambrogio, Italy
09:50-10:30
Keynote Lecture: Overview of nociplastic pain / central sensitization
Eva Kosek
Karolinska Institute, Sweden
10:30
Networking, Coffee Break & Poster Viewing
11:00
Session 2: Why and how is this happening? A focus on pathogenesis
11:00-11:30
Cytokines and miRNA in chronic pain
Michaela Kress
Medical University Innsbruck, Austria
11:30-12:00
Fibromyalgia: Imbalance of Threat and Soothing Systems (FITSS)
José António P. Da Silva
University Hospital of Coimbra, Portugal
12:00
Session 3: Known knowns, known unknowns etc. Debatable mechanisms of chronic pain
12:00-12:30
Anti-satellite glia cell antibodies are associated with symptom severity in fibromyalgia
Camilla Svensson
Karolinska Institute, Sweden
12:30
Networking, Lunch Break & Poster Viewing
13:30
Session 4: Research frontiers in the understanding of fibromyalgia
13:30-14:10
Keynote Lecture: Genetic and epigenetics of fibromyalgia and chronic pain
Luda Diatchenko
McGill University, Canada
14:10-14:30
Role of Hyperalgesia in chronic widespread pain
Christopher Sivert Nielsen
Institute of Public Health, Norway
14:30-14:50
Insights from the field of sleep (
Pre-Recorded)
Pre-Recorded) 
Liborio Parrino
Parma University Hospital, Italy
14:50-15:10
The evolving role of small fiber neuropathy in fibromyalgia
Andrea Truini
Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
15:10
Networking, Coffee Break & Poster Viewing
15:40
Session 5: Meanwhile, back in the clinic… A focus on clinical topics in the management of fibromyalgia patients
15:40-16:00
The transition to chronic pain: Risk factors and potential for prevention
Valerie Aloush
Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Israel
16:00-16:20
Obesity, bariatric surgery, and chronic pain
Fabiola Atzeni
University of Messina, Italy
16:20-16:40
Sexuality and fibromyalgia. A call for dialogue
Cristina Iannuccelli
Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
16:40
Oral Presentations of Selected Abstracts
16:40-16:50
Comorbid Associations in Fibromyalgia. Looking Beyond Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Findings from an Investigation into Fibromyalgia, Digestive Function and the Microbiome of the Gastrointestingal Tract (The FIDGIT Study)
16:50-17:00
Alexithymia and psychological distress in fibromyalgia and chronic migraine: Clues for nociplastic pain conditions?
17:00-17:10
Group therapy for Fibromyalgia: A randomized controlled trial of mindfulness-based therapy versus cognitive-behavioral therapy
17:10-17:20
Efficacy and Safety of TNX-102 SL (Sublingual Cyclobenzaprine) for the Treatment of Fibromyalgia: Results from the Randomized, Placebo Controlled RELIEF Trial
17:20-17:30
Discussion
17:30
End of Day One
08:30
Registration
09:00
Session 6: What's new in the other nociplastic syndromes?
09:00-09:20
Gut feelings: IBS revisited
David Bulmer
University of Cambridge, UK
09:20-09:40
From Long COVID to fibromyalgia: insights from an evolving trajectory
Jacob Ablin
Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Israel
09:40-10:10
Keynote Lecture: Neuro-immune mechanisms of pain in Fibromyalgia
Shafaq Sikandar
Queen Mary University of London, UK
10:10
Session 7: Primary, secondary, concomitant and everything in between. The interaction of chronic pain with inflammatory and non-inflammatory comorbidities
10:10-10:30
Sjogren syndrome and fibromyalgia
Luca Quartuccio
University of Udine, Italy
10:30
Networking, Coffee Break & Poster Viewing
11:00
Session 7: Primary, secondary, concomitant and everything in between. The interaction of chronic pain with inflammatory and non-inflammatory comorbidities (continued)
11:00-11:20
SLE and chronic pain
Sara Bindoli
Padova University Hospital, Italy
11:20-11:40
From painful joints to widespread pain: why is fibromyalgia so common in Rheumatoid arthritis? ( Pre-Recorded)
Pre-Recorded) 
Ernest Choy
Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, Wales, UK
11:40
Session 8: Can we get there without drugs? Exploring non- pharmacological approaches to treating fibromyalgia
11:40-12:20
Taking a closer look at the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for fibromyalgia
Shai Efrati
Shamir (Assaf-Harofeh) Medical Center & Tel Aviv University, Israel
12:20-12:50
Manipulating the microbiome for chronic pain: the case for fecal transplant
Amir Minerbi
Rambam Health Care Campus, Israel
12:50
Networking, Lunch Break & Poster Viewing
13:50
Session 9: So, is anything new on the pharmacological front?
13:50-14:10
The ongoing role of anti-depressants and anti – convulsants in fibromyalgia ( Pre-Recorded)
Pre-Recorded) 
Winfried Häuser
Klinikum Saarbrücken, Germany
14:10-14:30
The ongoing cannabinoid saga in the treatment of fibromyalgia and chronic pain
Gilat Shenhav
Laniado Hospital, Israel
14:30-14:50
Rational implementation of Jak inhibitors and other biologics in treating chronic pain and fatigue in rheumatoid arthritis
Piercarlo Sarzi-Puttini
IRCCS Ospedale Galeazzi – Sant'Ambrogio, Italy
14:50-15:10
L-acetyl carnitine (LAC) and Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA): Nutritional supplements in the struggle against chronic pain
Enrico Polati
University Hospital of Verona, Italy
15:10
Networking, Coffee Break & Poster Viewing
15:40
Session 10: Registries, patient associations and the holy grail of prevention
15:40-15:55
The role of Registries in Fibromyalgia
Marco Di Carlo
Polytechnic University of Marche, Italy
15:55-16:10
Classifying (and misclassifying) fibromyalgia: why definitions make a difference ( Pre-Recorded)
Pre-Recorded)
Winfried Häuser
Klinikum Saarbrücken, Germany
16:10-16:40
Patient centered care for fibromyalgia - PACFiND program
Gary J. Macfarlane
University of Aberdeen, UK
16:40-17:00
The role of patient associations
Giuseppina Fabio
AISF ODV (Italian Association of Fibromyalgia Syndrome), Italy
17:00
Congress Closing Remarks
Jacob Ablin, Israel and Piercarlo Sarzi-Puttini, Italy
17:10
End of Congress
Contact Us
Please drop us a line with any questions or comments you may have.
We look forward to hearing from you.
We look forward to hearing from you.