Psychobiological exploration and treatment of chronic pain – Endowed Professorship at RWTH Aachen University

It is estimated that up to 12 million people in Germany alone suffer from chronic pain. The chronification of pain is based on a complex and, as yet, poorly understood interplay of biological and psychological mechanisms. As a result, pain loses its function as an acute sensory warning signal, while the emotional component of the pain experience increasingly comes to the fore. The professorship for “Psychobiology of Chronic Pain” investigates the interactions between changes in the nervous system and psychological processes in order to better understand the development and maintenance of chronic pain. To this end, psychometric, behavioral, and physiological methods are combined and used both in the newly established pain laboratory and during functional magnetic resonance imaging. The goal is to derive innovative, mechanism-based therapeutic approaches. The current research focus is on the interaction between body and pain experience in neuropathic diseases and on changes in nociceptive processes in people with mental disorders.

Milestones

• Acquisition of a subproject on the topic of body representation and pain within the framework of an IZKF initiative (Interdisciplinary Center for Clinical Research, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University)

Outlook 2026

• Topical workshop on the interaction between body perception and pain experience at the IASP 2026 World Congress of Pain (Bangkok, Thailand)
• Member of the Task Force for the IASP 2026 Global Year on Neuropathic Pain
• Participation in the HGS conference “Chronic Pain in Interdisciplinary Discourse”