Robinson, Bishop receive funding from National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

Photo of Dr. Mark Bishop

Michael Robinson, PhD, CHP, professor in the Dept. of Clinical and Health Psychology, and Mark Bishop, PT, PhD, FAPTA, associate professor and director of the Doctor of Physical Therapy program, recently received funding from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases for their study, “Mechanisms and Modulation of Pain Modulatory Capacity.”

Dr. Bishop is co-PI, and collaborators include Meryl Alappattu, PT, PhD, research assistant professor in the Dept. of Physical Therapy (co-I), Jeff Boissoneault, PhD, assistant professor in the Dept. of Clinical and Health Psychology and co-director of the Center for Pain Research and Behavioral Health (co-I), and Roland Staud, MD, professor in the Center for Musculoskeletal Pain Research (co-I).

The five-year project proposes to understand the sources of pain variability, and demonstrate that pain variability represents fluctuation in natural pain management. The project further proposes to train people to maximize their body’s ability to manage pain, much as increasing athletic performance can be trained.​