University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Pain Science Program

This program aims to advance the science and treatment of chronic pain. We apply cutting-edge tools in statistics, neuroscience, and medicine to help advance a paradigm shift recognizing the mind and brain as central in chronic pain. Central research focuses include:

Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT)
Novel methods for diagnosing nociplastic pain
Pain neuroimaging
Novel brain-based pain treatments, including psychedelic-based treatments

Yoni K. Ashar, PhD
Co-Director of the Pain Science Program
Assistant Professor

Yoni K. Ashar, PhD is an assistant professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. He completed his doctorate in clinical psychology and neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder and an NIH-funded postdoctoral fellowship at Weill Cornell Medicine. Dr. Ashar directs a research laboratory using functional MRI brain imaging, natural language processing, and other clinical and computational tools to understand how mind and brain processes influence health, especially chronic pain. A main research focus is investigating a new class of psychological and neuroscience-based treatments aiming for recovery from chronic pain.

Link to Profile

Joseph Frank, MD
Co-Director of the Pain Science Program
Associate Professor

Dr. Frank is a general internist physician, an Associate Professor at the University of Colorado and the Associate Director of the VA Seattle-Denver Center of Innovation for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care. He is the Section Chief of Pain Medicine and Director of the Chronic Pain & Wellness Center at VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System. Dr. Frank is a health services researcher, whose research seeks to advance whole-person, neuroscience-based pain treatment with an emphasis on Veteran engagement and the care of Veterans with complex chronic pain.