The researcher at the URV's Chair in Paediatric Pain has also been awarded an IASP John J. Bonica International Fellowship in recognition of his work

Josep Roman-Juan, collaborating researcher at the Chair in Paediatric Pain and the Algos pain research group at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), has received several awards for his thesis Chronic pain: an epidemiological analysis of the prevalence, impact and trends in children and adolescents, which he defended last July at the URV.

The most recent award is the Juan Antonio Micó prize for the best doctoral thesis on pain in clinical sciences, awarded by the Spanish Pain Society and the Grünenthal Foundation, which recognises the best doctoral thesis defended in the field of pain in clinical sciences. The award, named after Dr Juan Antonio Micó, a leading figure in pain research in Spain, highlights the scientific contribution of Roman-Juan’s doctoral thesis, which focused on the epidemiology and understanding of chronic pain in paediatric populations.

In addition, he has received international recognition for his research career in the form of the John J. Bonica Trainee Fellowship by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP). This fellowship, one of the most prestigious in the world in the field of pain research, is awarded annually to just one researcher worldwide, who receives $100,000 for postdoctoral training. Roman-Juan is only the second Spanish researcher to receive this honour since the creation of the grant in 1998.

To round it all off, Josep Roman-Juan has also been awarded an Extraordinary Doctorate Prize by the URV in the Health, Psychology and Psychiatry programme for the 2023/24 academic year. According to the director of the Chair in Paediatric Pain, Jordi Miró, these awards not only demonstrate Roman-Juan’s individual excellence, but also the quality of the research conducted by the entire group.

A research profile at the highest international level

Josep Roman-Juan completed his Degree in Psychology at the University of the Balearic Islands in 2017. His interest in understanding the social and structural determinants of chronic pain led him to complete a pioneering doctoral thesis at the URV, directed by Jordi Miró, with the support of the Chair in Paediatric Pain.

His doctoral research consists of a comprehensive epidemiological analysis of the prevalence, impact and trends of chronic pain in children and adolescents internationally. Taking the form of a series of new published scientific articles, his thesis reveals that chronic pain in young people is not only highly prevalent, but is strongly related to factors such as sedentary lifestyles, excessive use of screens, obesity, sleep disturbances, emotional distress and fatigue. It has also provided evidence on the relationship between catastrophizing thoughts and an increased consumption of medication, and has validated measurement instruments such as the paediatric version of the graded pain scale.

In addition to studying individual factors, Roman-Juan has focused part of his work on how social inequalities, poverty, forced migration, trauma and unequal access to health services shape the development of chronic pain at critical stages of development. Currently, as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Calgary under the supervision of renowned researcher Melanie Noel, he continues to undertake innovative projects exploring the intersections between pain, social adversity and mental health trajectories.

Roman-Juan’s research contributes to transforming the way we understand chronic paediatric pain, focusing on the need for an interdisciplinary, anti-discriminatory and sensitive approach to social inequalities in order to improve prevention and treatment in younger generations.