Dr. Susan Tupper is the Strategy Consultant for Pain Quality Improvement & Research with the Saskatchewan Health Authority in Saskatchewan, Canada. Dr. Tupper is a licenced physical therapist with over 17 years of clinical practice experience focused on persistent pain management. She has a PhD in Community Health and Epidemiology and a post-doctoral fellowship in Pediatrics. Her PhD research focused on pain experiences in children and youth living with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. During graduate and post-graduate studies, Dr. Tupper was a trainee with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Strategic Training Initiative, Pain in Child Health, and received mentorship from international pain experts. Dr. Tupper holds Adjunct Professor appointments with the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine departments of Pediatrics; Anesthesiology, Perioperative Medicine and Pain Management; and the School of Rehabilitation Sciences. Dr. Tupper led a provincial working group to develop a Clinical Standard and Clinical Procedure for pain assessment and management and is a lead for the Chronic Pain Provincial Clinical Network for the Saskatchewan Health Authority. Dr. Tupper’s patient-engaged research examines clinical interactions about pain for people with chronic health conditions, virtual reality, and graphic medicine to challenge pain-related stigma. Dr. Tupper was a working group member of the Health Standards Organization, National Standard of Canada on Pediatric Pain Management (CAN/HSO 13200:2023). She is a member of the Pain Canada National Advisory Committee, the Provincial/Territorial National Collaborators Sub-Committee, and the Canadian Pain Society Scientific Planning Committee. Dr. Tupper is the founder and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Saskatchewan Pain Society Inc. (SaskPain), a non-profit charity focused on supporting people living with pain in Saskatchewan.

Ruth Chimenti, PT, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Science at the University of Iowa. She received her clinical degree from Washington University in St. Louis and her PhD from the University of Rochester in New York.

Her work focuses on the evaluation of underlying mechanisms that contribute to pain and disability in foot & ankle musculoskeletal conditions as well as the development of treatment strategies that are tailored to individual needs to optimize clinical outcomes.

Terese L. Chmielewski, PT, MPT, PhD, Board-Certified Clinical Specialist in Sports Physical Therapy is a Physical Therapist and Research Investigator at TRIA Orthopedic Center and an Affiliate Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota.

Chmielewski earned her MPT from the College of St. Scholastica and completed a sports physical therapy fellowship at the American Sports Medicine Institute. She received her PhD in Biomechanics and Movement Science from the University of Delaware, where she studied neuromuscular control in ACL-deficient patients. Her research centers on neuromuscular and psychological aspects of sports injury, especially ACL reconstruction.

She has received multiple Excellence in Research and Teaching awards from AASPT and the Academy of Orthopedic Physical Therapy. She currently leads an NIH-funded study on psychological support during ACL rehabilitation and serves as Secretary on the AASPT Executive Board.

Keith Roper, PT, DPT, TPS has been working at the University of Utah Emergency Department since 2017, managing acute and chronic pain conditions. Throughout his time in Utah, he has given presentations to Emergency Department physicians, spoken at conferences, and published papers on managing pain in the ED.  He also completed the Therapeutic Pain Specialist program through EIM and has studied Motivational Interviewing, ACT, CBT, and other forms of psychologically informed care.

Prior to his time at Utah, he spent 26 years in a private orthopedic PT practice in rural northern California, offering a wonderful opportunity to see people with a wide variety of conditions and develop problem solving skills and versatility as a therapist. Because of the small community setting, he had the opportunity to follow people over the course of many years, giving a unique perspective on the natural course of conditions and the effectiveness of various interventions.