Chronic pain can affect every facet of a person’s life. “When someone is in pain, they can have significant difficulty with activities we all do in our daily life, from getting out of bed to walking to the mailbox. It can also impact their mental wellness,” shares Lawson Health Research Institute Scientist Dr. Siobhan Schabrun, PhD. Dr. Schabrun, who is the first ever William and Lynne Gray Endowed Research Chair in Mobility and Activity at St. Joseph’s Health Care London, has dedicated much of her career to unravelling the complex connection between the body and the mind known as neuroscience, with a focus on persistent pain.   

She is currently leading groundbreaking work in understanding, treating and preventing persistent pain, offering hope for enhanced mobility and activity in individuals with musculoskeletal and neurological conditions at St. Joseph’s Gray Centre for Mobility and Activity, located at Parkwood Institute.

Dr. Schabrun’s research program has extended beyond conventional approaches, delving into the use of non-invasive brain stimulation technologies such as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, more commonly known as rTMS, a therapeutic tool used in mental health treatments for decades, to augment neuroplasticity and optimize outcomes in rehabilitation.

Bridging the gap between human pain models and clinical trials, Dr. Schabrun’s work is contributing to the understanding of clinical pain populations and bringing new treatment methods to the forefront to improve patient care and outcomes.

16 Lawson researchers with primary hospital appointments and affiliated scientists working through Western University are the recipients of project and bridge funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

Lawson researchers are being aided in their efforts to explore some of the most important health care questions ranging from predicting the progression of dementia syndromes, examining the genetic progression of anaplastic thyroid cancer, and differentiating bipolar disorder from major depressive disorder in young adults.

Funded Project Grants

Funded Bridge Grants