Roles
Professor of Neurological Surgery
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Biography
Dr. Widerstrom-Noga, DDS, PhD, is a Professor of Neurological Surgery, Rehabilitation Medicine, and the principal investigator of the Clinical Pain Research Laboratory of The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. Her work primarily concerns the extremely complex problem of persistent neuropathic pain after neurotrauma. Dr. Widerstrom-Noga’s educational background is in cross-disciplinary pain research (pain physiology and pain psychology) and in the clinical management of chronic pain.
Dr. Widerstrom-Noga has performed human pain research for three decades and in the field of spinal cord injury (SCI) for over 25 years. Her interests are influenced by her clinical background and interest in elucidating the underlying mechanisms of human pain and the cognitions and behaviors that determine the impact of pain. Dr. Widerstrom-Noga has used highly innovative methods including magnetic resonance spectroscopy to elucidate brain mechanisms and adapted outcome measures used in other chronic pain populations to people with SCI. She has also been instrumental in developing, presenting, and promoting the International SCI Pain Data Sets and the NINDS CDEs for SCI and Pain. She serves as the Chair or as a member in both National and International efforts to standardize pain outcome measures and pain classification, and clinical guidelines related to pain management.
Dr. Widerstrom-Noga has a strong interest in the perspectives of SCI stakeholders because these can significantly influence both the experience and management of pain. These perspectives have guided her recent research regarding multimodal non-pharmacological pain treatment approaches and pain education using both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Dr. Widerstrom-Noga has also collaborated in highly innovative clinical research studies that include deep brain stimulation for intractable neuropathic pain in SCI and movement disorders in Parkinson’s disease, and cellular transplantation for subacute and chronic spinal cord injury.
Dr. Widerstrom-Noga has a consistent history of funding from multiple federal and key foundation sponsors as PI and collaborator, and service on research and grant panels. -
Publications
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