Luana Colloca, MD, PhD, MS
Titles
Professor
Director, Placebo Beyond Opinions Center
MPower Professor
School Affiliation
School of Nursing
Specialties
Pain Research
Virtual Reality
Placebo and Expectation Effects
About
Phone: 410-706-8244
Email: colloca@umaryland.edu
Dr. Colloca’s research focuses on the behavioral, neural, and pharmacological mechanisms of pain modulation, with particular emphasis on placebo and nocebo effects and expectation-driven processes. Her work has advanced understanding of descending pain modulation and treatment responsiveness. Her laboratory also develops and evaluates virtual reality–based, non-pharmacological interventions for pain and related symptoms. She has published in leading journals including NEJM, npj Digital Medicine, Nature Neuroscience, Science, JAMA, The Lancet Neurology, Biological Psychiatry, and Pain and is internationally recognized for her contributions to pain neuroscience.
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