Kashikar-Zuck Research Lab
Behavioral Pain Management Research
Susmita Kashikar-Zuck, PhD, directs the Behavioral Pain Management Research Laboratory at Cincinnati Children’s. The research team is composed of behavioral medicine faculty, fellows, residents and research assistants who are interested in the field of pediatric pain management.
The focus of our lab is to study:
- Chronic pain in children and adolescents
- The best ways to assess pediatric pain
- The impact of pain on physical and psychosocial functioning
- How children cope with pain
- How to develop evidence-based treatments for chronic pain
- How to disseminate evidence-based treatments using quality-improvement methods
Students, residents and fellows receive training in implementing large funded research studies, scientific writing, conducting critical reviews of the literature, statistical analysis, presentation skills and grant preparation. Residents and fellows also receive training in behavioral pain management therapies including biofeedback and cognitive-behavioral therapy.
Research projects are multidisciplinary and lab members collaborate closely with investigators in the Divisions of Rheumatology, Pain Management, Sports Medicine and the Headache Center.