Dr. Francine Toye studied Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge (1986-1990), and later qualified as a physiotherapist (1996). She is committed to improving the quality of healthcare through qualitative research, and in 2018 was invited to lead a team of experts and patients to develop a qualitative research resource for the International Association for the Study of Pain, Global Year of Excellence in Pain Education. Francine aims to make qualitative research accessible and useful across disciplines and runs ‘Made Simple’ qualitative research workshops for University of Oxford. She works closely with patient partners and integrates patients into every phase of research, including idea development, analysis, and dissemination. She has published a body of qualitative research and has expertise in qualitative research methodology, including meta-ethnography. Francine is committed to maximising the impact of qualitative research and has uses innovative arts-based approaches, such as film, to achieve this.
Joletta Belton is a storyteller, advocate, and educator. She makes sense of her pain through science and stories on her blog, MyCuppaJo.com, and is co-founder of the Endless Possibilities Initiative, a nonprofit organization with a mission of empowering people living with pain to live well. Both projects were born of her experiences living with chronic pain, which began with a missed step off a fire engine and a twinge in her hip. That missed step landed her in the chaos of ongoing, worsening pain, years of failed treatments, and a forced medical retirement from the firefighter paramedic career that had defined her. It also landed her on a path of healing, growth, self-discovery, and purpose. Joletta is now an advocate for advancing the integration of the lived experience into the study, research, and treatment of pain, which led to her position as co-chair of the Global Alliance of Pain Patient Advocates (GAPPA), a presidential task force for the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP). She is also the first Patient and Public Partnerships Editor for the Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy.