Rehabilitation and Educational Training

Prof. Ruth Defrin

Pain

A traumatic spinal cord injury may provoke a debilitating, lifelong pain in some people, whereas other people may remain pain free thereafter. Similarly, some people develop posttraumatic stress disorder in the aftermath of traumatic stress, which is often accompanied by chronic pain and alterations in pain modulation, whereas other people are resilient to such stress . By applying a multidisciplinary approach using advanced psychophysical and imaging methods, Prof. Defrin aims to uncover the mechanisms leading to these seemingly opposite effects of physical and traumatic stress, and the biomarkers that enable their prediction . Early detection of vulnerability would enable preemptive management, which may mitigate or prevent the hazardous consequences of such pathological conditions .

Prof. Ruth Defrin , PhD, is at the Department of Physical Therapy in the School of Health Professions. She completed a Bachelors degree in Physical Therapy, MSc and PhD in Physiology and Pharmacology at Tel Aviv University and post-doctoral training in pain imaging at the University of Toronto, Canada. Prof. Defrin established the Pain Laboratory, which includes branches in several departments of affiliated hospitals. Prof. Defrin has founded and co -directs the Biomed@TAU Pain Research Hub and is the research chair of the Israeli Pain Association. Prof. Defrin has won several awards, including from the Israeli Pain Association for outstanding contribution in the promotion of national and international pain research.