ABC Pain Research Lab
Our lab studies acute and chronic pain in children, and the transition in between. We aim to understand and harness the influence of cognitive-behavioral factors on children's pain trajectories using developmental frameworks.
Melanie Noel, PhD – Assistant Professor, Principal Investigator
Jill Vinall, PhD – Post-Doctoral Fellow
Nivez Rasic, MD – Collaborator
Alex Neville, BA (Hons) – Clinical Psychology Graduate Student
Sabine Soltani, MSc – Clinical Psychology Graduate Student
Maria Pavlova, MSc – Lab Coordinator
Lauren McCallum, 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.
From September onwards we will be recruiting children between 12 to 18 years of age and one of their parents for our Pain and Mental Health (PATH) study. To be eligible, children should not have chronic pain and should be able to speak English, their parent need to have Internet access. If you are interested, please contact:
Maria Pavlova
Email: mpavlova@ucalgary.ca
Phone number: 403-955-7592