Pain Education, Advocacy, and Knowledge (PEAK) Research Lab

Melanie Noel, PhD – Assistant Professor, Principal Investigator

Jill Vinall, PhD – Post-Doctoral Fellow

Samantha Noyek – PhD – Post-Doctoral Fellow

Perri Tutelman – PhD – Post-Doctoral Fellow

Maria Pavlova, MSc – Clinical Psychology Graduate Student

Jamie Beveridge, MSc - Clinical Psychology Graduate Student

Tatiana Lund, MSc – Clinical Psychology Graduate Student

Queenie Li, BA(Hons), BSC– Clinical Psychology Graduate Student

Atiqa Pirwani, BA(Hons), BSC (Hons) – Clinical Psychology Graduate Student

Emily Bernier, BA(Hons) – Lab Coordinator

Merek Zimmerman, BA(Hons) – Research Assistant

Our lab studies acute and chronic pain in children, and the transition in between. The lab is led by Dr. Melanie Noel whose research expertise is in the area of children's anxiety/fear and pain memories as cognitive-affective mechanisms underlying trajectories of pediatric pain. The overarching aim of her research is to understand and harness the influence of cognitive-behavioral factors on children’s pain trajectories using developmental frameworks. Dr. Noel's research covers the areas of acute (e.g., painful medical procedures, experimental pain in the lab) and chronic (i.e., pain lasting for at least 3 months) pain in a variety of clinical and healthy populations (e.g., vaccination, venipunctures, surgery, chronic pain, emergency care). She employs a variety of novel experimental (lab-based) and clinical methodologies as well as quantitative and qualitative approaches. She is committed to applying a developmental framework to her research and examining the broader sociocultural influences that are unique to pain in childhood. Particular emphasis is on the powerful role of parents in shaping children's pain experiences and how they are invariably affected by children's suffering and alternatively, resilience.  

We are currently conducting several studies focusing on young children's and parents' pain memory development following a surgery; parent and child narratives about pain; co-occurrence of trauma and pediatric pain; vaccination pain and fear management across the lifespan; children's cognitive and social development and pain memory development.

We currently have several ongoing studies at different stages. If you and your child are interested in potentially participating in research, please contact:

Emily Bernier

E-mail: Emily.bernier@ucalgary.ca