Advancing Research on the Social Dimensions of Pain: Emerging Evidence and Future Directions

Jennifer S. De La Rosa, PhD, is an Assistant Research Professor in Family and Community Medicine at the University of Arizona. Dr. De La Rosa leads epidemiologic, interventional, advocacy, and workforce development projects to improve quality of life and functional resilience in people living with chronic pain. Her current projects include PainPartners (NIH K12TR005467-01), a program in which certified peer paraprofessionals with lived experience of chronic pain are trained to provide neuroscience-backed skills coaching and peer support to people facing similar challenges. 

Adam Hirsh, PhD, is a Professor of Psychology at Indiana University (Indianapolis) and a licensed clinical psychologist. He leads a multidisciplinary research program focused on preventing and managing chronic pain through patient-centered coaching, clinician training, investigations of pain-related injustice, music-based interventions, and virtual patient/clinician and AI applications. Using clinical, laboratory, and epidemiologic approaches, his work identifies psychosocial mechanisms and translates them into pragmatic, scalable interventions. He also mentors numerous PhD students and early-career scholars through NIH-funded training grants and holds leadership roles in national and international organizations. 

Charlotte Krahé, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Psychology at Liverpool John Moores University in Liverpool, United Kingdom. Her research focuses on understanding the psychological and neurobiological mechanisms by which social interactions influence the experience of acute and chronic pain. Using a range of methods from experimental psychology and social cognitive neuroscience, she focuses on interactions between loved ones (e.g., the impact of affective, soothing touch on pain) and between healthcare professionals and patients (e.g., effects of empathy on pain and distress in people with fibromyalgia). Public engagement is central to Charlotte’s work, including through her role as Chair of the British Science Association Psychology section and through embedding public and patient involvement in all stages of her research.

Samantha Meints, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at Harvard Medical School and a clinical pain psychologist at Mass General Brigham. Her program of research examines biobehavioral and social factors that shape the experience of pain, with a particular focus on integrating patient-centered methods, stakeholder engagement, and health equity principles into the development and testing of behavioral interventions for the prevention and treatment of chronic pain. Clinically, she provides evidence-based psychological care to individuals living with chronic pain and comorbid conditions. She is deeply committed to mentorship and training, serving as Co‑Director of the Mass General Brigham IMPACT T90/R90 training program. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the U.S. Association for the Study of Pain (USASP) and as a Section Editor for Pain Medicine.

Michael Ray, DC, MS, is an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at The George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences. His research focuses on the transition from acute to chronic pain and the development of scalable, non-pharmacological interventions to improve pain management in acute care settings. Using mixed-methods approaches, he examines how patient-reported outcomes, pain-related cognitions, psychological distress, and social factors can help identify patients at risk for chronic pain and guide targeted, evidence-based care.

Emily Walker is a PhD candidate at UNSW and Neuroscience Research Australia, where her research uses process evaluation to examine patient-led goal setting and pain science education in chronic low back pain. She has a strong interest in social determinants of health, health equity, and critical approaches to pain care, with a focus on understanding how broader systems influence outcomes, clinician practice, and patient experiences. Clinically, Emily works as an exercise physiologist in a multidisciplinary setting, and she is also an Associate Lecturer at UNSW where she is involved in subjects on research methods, musculoskeletal health, and special populations.