Welcome to the PASS Lab
Dr. Nelson and the PASS lab team are broadly interested in the psychological and neurobiological correlates of psychological stress as it relates to chronic pain and pain-related impairment. Current studies are funded via internal (Boston Children's Hospital) and external (National Institutes of Health) mechanisms and aim to examine salivary and brain-based mechanisms of stress in chronic widespread pain, the conceptualization of chronic pain as a source of toxic stress, and the application of stress-based non-pharmacological intervention to pediatric pain. In addition to these studies, the PASS lab team holds active collaborations with national and internal pain researchers in related areas, and a passion for researching disparities in healthcare and pain-related stress in underrepresented populations, specifically minoritized youth and their families.