Dr Ballantyne has been involved in treating patients with pain for over 30 years. She has played a leading role in the recognition that opioids have limited utility as an intervention for the treatment of chronic pain. Opioid limitations are largely related to the development of neuroadaptations that lead to gradual loss of analgesic efficacy and increase in comorbidities such as depression and opioid use disorder. Dr Ballantyne’s research has consisted of assessing the evidence basis for pain interventions, including but not restricted to opioid treatments. She has also worked extensively with neuroscientists to understand and teach the neurobiological basis of pain and its treatment with opioids. She has written 98 peer reviewed papers, 78 book chapters and numerous other papers, as well as being an editor of textbooks and journals. She has been lecturing internationally since the 1990s.