Biobehavioral Pediatric Pain Lab Research Assistant Position

The Biobehavioral Pediatric Pain Collaborative (BPPC) Laboratory in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine focuses on the assessment and treatment of the psychological aspects and neural underpinnings of chronic pain in children and adolescents. Using a pain neuroscience and psychology approach, the lab works to build a mechanistic understanding of the cognitive and affective processes involved in pediatric pain, conduct rigorous patient-oriented research that translates targeted assessment into mechanistically informed treatment, and leverage digital health tools to expand patient access and reach.

Our current projects include:

• Targeted Realtime Assessment of Chronic Pain (TRAC-Pain) in Youth (NIH-funded): Investigates the use of wearable digital health technology to continuously monitor physiological, sleep, and physical activity data in adolescents with chronic musculoskeletal pain, with the goal of improving diagnosis, treatment, and prevention while developing objective digital measures for more efficient clinical trials.
• Applying Service Design Methods to Enhance Implementation and Adoption of a Digital Graded Exposure Treatment (NIH-funded): Designs the process for integrating iGET Living—a digital graded exposure therapy intervention for youth with chronic musculoskeletal pain—into clinical care. The study gathers qualitative data through observations, interviews, focus groups, and co-design workshops with clinicians, staff, and clinic leaders at Stanford's Pediatric Pain Management and Pediatric Rheumatology clinics to iteratively develop service blueprints and implementation roadmaps that fit existing workflows.
• Empowered Relief for Caregivers (ER-CY) (Anesthesia Research Grant–funded): A co-designed brief intervention to support families of youth with chronic pain.

Research Assistants will gain familiarity with a range of psychological and neuroscience research methods across various chronic pain populations (e.g., musculoskeletal pain, fibromyalgia, neuropathic pain), with efforts made to match interests to current projects. Responsibilities may include implementing experiments, recruiting participants, managing participant adherence to study protocols, conducting discharge interviews, assisting with analysis, and transcribing qualitative interviews. We are looking for motivated, enthusiastic, and organized individuals. Knowledge of SPSS or programming is helpful but not required, and experience working with children and families is preferred. This position requires students to sign up for 3 units of research credit each quarter for at least one academic year which equates to a commitment of 9–10 hours per week each quarter.

For more information about our work, please visit our website at bpp.stanford.edu.

To apply, please complete the application here. If you have any questions, please feel free to email us at PedsPainLab@stanford.edu.