OUR RESEARCH FOCUS

In the Social Neuroscience of Pain Disparities Lab, we are focused on understanding the social and physiological mechanisms that create, modulate, and maintain sociocultural disparities in pain.

We also conduct research on individual differences in pain processing, cross-cultural modulation of pain and empathy, and social/environmental effects on health broadly defined. ​

Our work is fundamentally interdisciplinary, and relies upon the integration of methods from experimental social psychology, neuroscience, and clinical and physiological pain research. We also love to collaborate with colleagues and students across disciplines and professions!


We are committed to conducting research that:

  • ​​combats disparities in pain
  • ​​leads to improved understanding of human pain experience, and how this is affected by context and lived environments 
  • is pointed toward decreasing suffering from pain and improving health and wellness
  • ​includes, represents, and gives back to our local community


Prospective graduate students who are interested in working with Dr. Vani Mathur should apply to either the Social and Personality training program in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences  or the  Institute for Neuroscience TAMIN.

Mathur Lab News – 

  • Special congratulations to Brandon for being awarded the College of Liberal Arts Dissertation Fellowship Award!​
  • Congratulations to Hanan for receiving the Elizabeth A. Qualls ’89 Endowed Fellowship!
  • Dr. Mathur was invited to speak about Discrimination as a Social Determinant of Pain at the NIH Pain Consortium Meeting (talk begins at 1hr 23 min). (Link)
  • Kudos to Zack for winning the Glasscock Humanities Award at Student Research Week!​​​
  • We’d like to give special thanks to our Fall 2021 team for working hard to maintain our research endeavors while ensuring  the health and safety of fellow students and members of our community​!
  • Big congratulations to Nam for successfully defending her dissertation! Nam is currently completing her clinical internship at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston​.
  • Congratulations to Kaitlyn for her 2nd year poster award from the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences​!
  • Dr. Mathur &  collaborators were awarded a Texas A&M Presidential Clinical Research Partnership (PCRP) Grant for their work on Improving Maternal Health Equity and Decreasing Racial Disparities through Transdisciplinary Research and Collaborating in the Brazos Valley​ (Link)
  • Congratulations to Nathan Ramsey, a Spring 2021 senior in our lab, for being awarded the Jack Nation award, which goes to the most outstanding graduating senior in psychology!
  • Dr. Mathur Interviewed for PRF Relief Article (Link)

Brandon Boring presenting a poster at the 2nd year graduate student's poster session, 2019.​

Pain related brain activation.​

Nevita and Maggie with Dr. Mathur at Student Research Week, 2019​

All Pain Is Not Equal - PRF Article​

Dr. Mathur speaking at the NIH Pain Consortium Meeting, 2021.​

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