Neuropathic pain is notoriously difficult to treat. Despite an explosion of research in recent years, few new treatments have made their way into the clinic. Why is progress so glacially slow? Where are the new and promising treat­­ments? When will there be a breakthrough in understanding? To address these questions, the editors convened a unique meeting, bringing together leaders from academia and industry. No time was taken up in lectures: all the meeting time was spent in intensive discussions, and this book is the result. It contains the latest available information and provides a blueprint to meet the challenges that lie ahead. It will be invaluable both to clinicians treating neuropathic pain and to researchers studying this difficult but important problem.