International Pelvic Pain Society
This organization of gynecologists, urologists, psychologists, and other health professionals is committed to an interdisciplinary approach to the treatment of chronic pelvic pain and serves as a forum for professional and public education.
International Association for the Study of Pain
This professional forum brings together scientists, clinicians, health care providers, and policy makers to stimulate and support the study of pain and to translate that knowledge into improved pain relief worldwide.
NIH Multidisciplinary Approach to the Study of Chronic Pelvic Pain (MAPP) Research Network
The MAPP Research Network is designed to conduct collaborative studies of urologic chronic pelvic pain disorders by looking for clues outside the bladder and prostate. The MAPP Research Network includes six Discovery Sites that conduct research studies, and two Core Sites that coordinate data collection, analyze tissue samples, and provide technical support. This initiative is unique and includes novel approaches and highly collaborative research on the two most prominent urologic chronic pelvic pain disorders: interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome and chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome.
NIH Pain Consortium
The NIH Pain Consortium was established to enhance pain research and promote collaboration among researchers across the many NIH Institutes and Centers that have programs and activities addressing pain.
Noncyclic Chronic Pelvic Pain Therapies for Women: Comparative Effectiveness
The Vanderbilt Evidence-based Practice Center systematically reviewed evidence on therapies for women aged 18 and older with noncyclic chronic pelvic pain (CPP) for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The researchers focused on the prevalence of conditions thought to occur commonly with CPP; changes in pain, functional status, quality of life, and patient satisfaction resulting from surgical and nonsurgical treatment approaches; harms of nonsurgical approaches; evidence for differences in surgical outcomes if an etiology for CPP is identified postsurgery; and evidence for selecting one intervention over another after an approach fails.
Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education, and Research (Institute of Medicine of the National Academies [IOM])
In this 2011 report, the IOM offers a blueprint for action in transforming prevention, care, education, and research, with the goal of providing relief for people with pain in America.
Research Plan on Vulvodynia (NICHD) (PDF - 682 KB)
Developed by the NICHD in collaboration with other federal, private, and nonprofit agencies and researchers in the field, this 2012 research plan lays out an agenda for the rigorous scientific research needed to answer questions and fill in knowledge gaps about vulvodynia.
World Endometriosis Society (WES)
The society promotes the exchange of clinical and scientific experience and ideas among those committed to advancing understanding of endometriosis.
1st World Congress on Pelvic Pain 2013
This conference will be held in Amsterdam from May 30 to June 1, 2013, and will offer an opportunity for clinicians from a variety of disciplines to gather and forge consensus on topics of common concern.
Please note: Links to organizations and information included on this page do not indicate endorsement from the NICHD, NIH, or HHS.