Behavioral Pain Innovations Lab
About the Team
The Behavioral Pain Innovations Lab is dedicated to conducting research that improves the effectiveness and reach of behavioral pain treatments for youth affected by chronic pain. Chronic pain is one of the most prevalent and disabling health conditions affecting children and adolescents. We use novel clinical research methods to identify the physiological, emotional, social, and environmental variables that influence when pain occurs, how severe it is, and how much it affects daily life in children and adolescents experiencing chronic pain. We then use this knowledge to develop, evaluate, and refine personalized and adaptive behavioral pain interventions, often using contemporary digital technologies (e.g., internet interventions, smartphones, wearable sensors, and extended reality). In addition to the primary focus of our lab, we routinely collaborate with other investigators nationally and internationally on studies that are dedicated to improving acute and chronic pain outcomes in children and adolescents.
Leader
Mark Connelly, PhD, is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine and clinical health psychologist at Children’s Mercy Kansas City, where he serves as the Research Director for his home division of Developmental and Behavioral Health. The primary focus of Dr. Connelly’s career has been on serving youth with chronic pain and their families. His primary area of research has focused on the role of psychosocial factors in the etiology and modulation of pain in children and adolescents, with a particular emphasis on applying digital technologies to improve the reach, personalization, and efficacy of behavioral pain treatments. His research has been continuously supported through sponsors including the National Institutes of Health (NINDS, NIAMS), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Arthritis Foundation, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and the National Headache Foundation. Dr. Connelly serves on scientific review panels for the NIH and several foundations, is on the editorial board of leading journals in the field of pain and pediatric psychology, and routinely is involved in mentoring the next generation of pain researchers.
- Research Areas
- Labs and Research Teams
- ACCESS Behavioral Health Lab
- Baby Health and Behavior Lab
- Baby Lab
- Bactrim Lung Failure Team
- Behavioral Pain Innovations Lab
- Center for Children’s Healthy Lifestyles & Nutrition
- Community Engaged Research Team
- Developmental and Behavioral Health Research Group
- Fridley Lab
- Laboratory of Immunogenomics
- Milkovich Lab
- Nadler Lab
- Pediatric Brain Cancer Research Team/Yadav Lab
- Ramsey Lab
- Sullivant Lab
- Varberg Lab
- Younger Lab
Director, Research, Developmental & Behavioral Health; Professor of Pediatrics, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine