Jennifer A. Haythornthwaite MA, PhD

Dr. Haythornthwaite received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and then completed a clinical internship at the West Haven VA Medical Center and a research fellowship at the National Institute on Aging. Her research has been funded largely by NIH, including multiple institutes interested in understanding pain, she is a past recipient of a mid-career investigator award (K24) from NINDS, and she recently stepped down as the Co-Director of a T32 grant for post-doctoral training in pain research.

Dr. Haythornthwaite’s scientific contributions have focused on the study of psychosocial aspects of pain, particularly the impact of negative emotions and pain coping strategies on pain and pain-related disability. Her early work focused on the utility of behavioral diaries to assess pain and sleep and the impact of depressive symptoms on pain and pain-related disability. Her recent work has examined the impact of negative emotions and pain coping strategies on neuropathic pain, such as diabetic neuropathy and postherpetic neuralgia, and she is currently testing psychological and pharmacological treatments for pain and symptom reduction in chronic illness.