Anthony Dickenson is Professor of Neuropharmacology at University College, London. He has had a long and distinguished career in the pain field, performing solid and important experiments on mechanisms of nociceptive processing in the spinal cord. Professor Dickenson’s work has played a central role in significant findings, such as the phenomenon of NMDA-receptor-mediated synaptic sensitization resulting from repeated activation of nociceptive afferent neurons and also the modulation of dorsal horn activity by substance P via descending pathways. Overall, he has made seminal contributions to understanding the mechanisms of pain and how pain can be controlled in both normal and patho-physiological conditions and how to translate basic science to the patient. He has given plenary lectures at the World Congress on Pain, the European Pain Congress and many other national and international meetings and has given a number of well-received lay presentations on radio and television. He is a great ambassador for work on pain in the UK and for Pharmacology.