PPERSONA Lab - Pain Phenotyping to Enhance Relief by Studying Optimized Nonpharmacologic Analgesia

Overview

The PPERSONA Lab, co‑directed by Rob Edwards and Sam Meints, is a pain research laboratory based at Mass General Brigham. The lab focuses on understanding how biological, psychological, and social factors shape the experience of pain and pain‑related outcomes across clinical populations.

Research in the PPERSONA Lab integrates behavioral science, clinical research, and patient‑reported outcomes to examine why individuals differ in pain severity, disability, treatment response, and recovery trajectories. A particular emphasis is placed on social and psychological processes—such as negative affect, pain catastrophizing (negative pain thoughts), stigma, and trauma—that influence the pain experience.

The lab’s work aims to inform personalized, equitable, and effective approaches to pain assessment and treatment, with the ultimate goal of improving quality of life for individuals living with acute and chronic pain. Through interdisciplinary collaboration and translational research, the PPERSONA Lab seeks to bridge mechanistic understanding with real‑world clinical impact.

IMPACT Clinical Pain Research Training Program

The IMPACT Program provides interdisciplinary training for fellows from diverse backgrounds to develop as clinical pain researchers under the mentorship of faculty across multiple departments. The program offers individualized, biopsychosocially grounded training tailored to each fellow’s interests and experience, preparing them for productive academic careers addressing critical problems in clinical pain science.

STOPPP Study

This randomized controlled trial in patients undergoing TKA, tests the effects of perioperative cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBTi) and CBTi + morning bright light treatment on chronic post-surgical pain and opioid consumption.

CARES

We are assessing the efficacy, in a three-arm randomized controlled trial, of Motivational Interviewing and guided Opioid Tapering support (MI-Opioid Taper) and tizanidine vs. MI-Opioid Taper and placebo vs. enhanced usual care to promote postoperative opioid cessation and pain cessation and reduced the incidence of postoperative opioid misuse.

PREPS

This study aims to adapt and modify a brief presurgical ACT intervention aimed at preventing the transition to CPSP and reducing long-term opioid use. We are assessing the acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy of the finalized intervention to prevent the transition to CPSP and reduce post-surgical opioid use six months following lumbar spine surgery. Finally, we are identifying psychosocial and psychophysical phenotypes associated with response to this intervention.

STABLE

The STABLE project examines how Pilates may improve pain, and physical and psychosocial function in hypermobile individuals experiencing pain.

Disparities in Pain following Gynecologic Cancer Surgery

This study aim to understand whether postoperative pain trajectories differ between non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White women undergoing gynecologic cancer surgery, and the extent to which psychosocial and inflammatory factors modulate these trajectories.

PREPARE MBCBT

This study aims to develop and refine a behavioral intervention for older adults undergoing knee replacement that integrates deprescribing education with mindfulness-based cognitive behavioral therapy (MBCBT) to evaluate its feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy in a randomized pilot trial.

Research Team

Robert Edwards, PhD
Professor of Anaesthesia

Dr. Edwards is a clinical psychologist and pain researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital whose work focuses on psychosocial mechanisms underlying chronic pain and pain related disability. His research examines how psychological, social, and neurobiological factors influence pain severity, treatment response, and recovery, with the goal of informing more personalized and effective pain interventions. Dr. Edwards has extensive experience leading interdisciplinary, translational pain research and is committed to advancing evidence based, patient centered approaches to pain care.

Samantha Meints, PhD
Assistant Professor of Anaesthesia

Dr. Meints is a is a pain psychologist and clinical investigator at Brigham and Women’s Hospital whose research focuses on improving outcomes for individuals with acute and chronic pain. Her work centers on the prevention of chronic postsurgical pain and the development, refinement, and implementation of nonpharmacological interventions for chronic pain that can be integrated into clinical care. Dr. Meints also studies the role of intersectional stigma related to pain, mental health, and marginalized identities, and how these social factors contribute to disparities in pain experiences and treatment outcomes.

Jenna Wilson, PhD
Instructor in Investigation

Dr. Jenna Wilson is a Senior Research Scientist whose research applies a biopsychosocial model and an intersectional lens to identify modifiable factors that contribute to chronic pain severity, functional disability, and long-term opioid use, with a focus on women’s health and postsurgical pain. She is particularly interested in adaptive processes that foster resilience, and in translating these insights into person-centered behavioral interventions to improve pain management and long-term quality of life.

Marise Owens, MBA
Sr. Project Manager

Marise is the Lab Manager for the PPERSONA Lab at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, supporting the research programs of Drs. Meints and Edwards. Marise earned her MBA from Southern New Hampshire State University in addition to a BS in Neuroscience from Simmons University. She has worked in the lab since 2013 starting as an intern before promotion to research assistant and ultimately lab manager. She oversees day‑to‑day lab operations, including study coordination, regulatory compliance, data management, and research staff training. Marise plays a central role in ensuring the efficient and ethical conduct of the lab’s clinical and translational pain research and provides organizational leadership that supports collaboration, productivity, and high‑quality science and is the chief administrator for the IMPACT Clinical Pain Research Training Program.

Michaela Sawada, MS
Research Coordinator

Michaela is a clinical research coordinator and prospective clinical psychology Ph.D. candidate interested in research pertaining to non-pharmacological interventions that address biopsychosocial relationships between mental wellness and chronic pain. She coordinates the MGB site for the Sleep TO Prevent Post-surgical Pain (STOPPP) study.

Caroline Allen, BS
Research Coordinator

Caroline is a clinical research coordinator working on studies of postsurgical pain. She has been essential in putting patients at ease during stressful periods and helping them to successfully navigate surgery and participation in our clinical research studies.

Carlicia Nelson, BS
Research Coordinator

Carlicia is a clinical research coordinator who has been with the lab since 2023. During this time, she has been essential across a variety of clinical pain studies through recruitment efforts, direct patient engagement, study visit management, and data collection and management.

Savannah Kazemipour, MS
Research Coordinator

Savannah is a clinical research coordinator and a medical student at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic medicine with a strong interest in anesthesiology and pain medicine. Her research interest include the psychosocial factors that influence pain, women’s experience of pain, and post-surgical opioid use. She is committed to advancing compassionate, evidence-based pain care that improves patient outcomes and quality of life.

Jolin Yamin, PhD
Research Fellow

Dr. Jolin Yamin is a clinical psychologist and postdoctoral research fellow. Her work focuses on understanding the interplay between psychosocial trauma and chronic pain and developing and testing novel behavioral interventions to improve pain outcomes. Dr. Yamin is currently testing a brief, trauma-focused intervention for individuals with chronic pain and history of trauma exposure.

Samantha McKetchnie, PhD
Research Fellow

Dr. McKetchnie is a clinical social worker and postdoctoral research fellow. Her work focuses on understanding the barriers and facilitators to women’s pain care the goal of improving access to care, treatment adherence, and pain and functioning.

Stephanie Voss, PhD
Research Fellow

Stephanie is a postdoctoral research fellow in pain research at MGB with a background in Occupational Therapy and Kinesiology. Her research focuses on the role of interoception and sensory sensitivity in chronic pain, and the use of movement-based mind-body strategies, like yoga, for pain and symptom management. She is currently leading the STABLE project examining how Pilates may improve pain, and physical and psychosocial function in hypermobile individuals experiencing pain.