Research
Chronic pain and sleep research
Chronic pain is frequently accompanied by significant sleep disturbances, with insomnia being one of the most prevalent and disabling comorbidities. Poor sleep not only co-occurs with chronic pain but also exacerbates pain intensity, emotional distress, cognitive functioning, and disability. Despite growing recognition of the bidirectional relationship between sleep and pain, sleep problems remain under-recognised and insufficiently treated within chronic pain management. Moreover, the mechanisms underlying the interaction between sleep and pain are not yet fully understood.
My research focuses on understanding and targeting the interaction between sleep and pain, with a particular emphasis on insomnia in people with chronic pain. During my PhD, I investigated the implementation and added value of cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) within chronic spinal pain management. This work demonstrated that integrating CBT-I into pain care is both feasible and clinically meaningful, leading to improvements in sleep and beneficial effects on other outcomes.
Building on this work, I have focused on optimising insomnia treatment in people with chronic pain, including adapting CBT-I to better account for the dynamic and reciprocal relationship between sleep and pain. My research highlights that addressing insomnia is not merely an adjunct to pain treatment, but a potential lever for improving broader pain-related functioning and quality of life.
In the future, I aim to continue this line of work by advancing our understanding the mechanisms linking sleep and pain, including the role of circadian rhythm processes and other biopsychosocial factors. I am particularly interested in developing and testing preventive and early-intervention approaches, as well as broadening the focus to include lifestyle factors that may optimise both sleep and pain outcomes. Through this work, I seek to contribute to more personalised, mechanism-based, and sustainable approaches to chronic pain management.