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Racism is an established health determinant across the world. In this 3-part series, we argue that a disregard of how racism manifests in pain research practices perpetuates pain inequities and slows the progression of the field. Our goal in part-1 is to provide a historical and theoretical background of racism as a foundation for understanding how an antiracism pain research framework - which focuses on the impact of racism, rather than “race,” on pain outcomes - can be incorporated across the continuum of pain research. We also describe cultural humility as a lifelong self-awareness process critical to ending generalizations and successfully applying antiracism research practices through the pain research continuum. In part-2 of the series, we describe research designs that perpetuate racism and provide reframes. Finally, in part-3, we emphasize the implications of an antiracism framework for research dissemination, community-engagement practices and diversity in research teams. Through this series, we invite the pain research community to share our commitment to the active process of antiracism, which involves both self-examination and re-evaluation of research practices shifting our collective work towards eliminating racialized injustices in our approach to pain research. Perspective: We call on the pain community to dismantle racism in our research practices. As the first paper of the 3-part series, we introduce dimensions of racism and its effect on pain inequities. We also describe the imperative role of cultural humility in adopting antiracism pain research practices.

Currently, there are no established biomarkers for the diagnosis or symptoms of pain and fatigue in individuals with fibromyalgia (FM). The objective of this study was to identify potential biomarkers in individuals with FM, and to correlate these putative biomarkers with FM-symptoms using a targeted metabolomics approach. The current study was a secondary analysis from baseline data taken in the Fibromyalgia Activity Study with TENS (FAST). We analyzed plasma samples and baseline patient-reported outcomes for resting pain and fatigue from 59 women with FM (mean±SD; age=49.69±11.54, BMI=35.23±10.91) matched with 38 healthy controls (HC) (age=51.0±11.46, BMI=32.33±8.66). Serum/plasma metabolomic extracts were derivatized and analyzed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry for 63 key metabolites representing the tricarboxylic acid cycle, glycolysis, pentose phosphate pathway, amino acid metabolism, neurotransmission, reactive oxygen species defense, and energetics. Differences between FM and HC were assessed for each metabolite using unpaired t-tests (corrected p