Department of Family and Community Medicine Assistant Professor Taylor Taylor, Ph.D., M.Ed., has been accepted into the latest cohort of the United States Association for the Study of Pain (USASP) Leadership Academy. Through additional training, mentoring, and skills development, Leadership Academy scholars hope to drive advances in research, policy, and education surrounding the field of pain science.
“As I build a patient‑centered research program focused on chronic pain and aging, I’m increasingly aware that meaningful impact happens through relationships, trust, and sustained collaboration,” Taylor said. “This program offers a space to strengthen those connections and to learn alongside others who share a commitment to community‑ and patient‑engaged research. I see this as an opportunity to form lifelong relationships with individuals who represent the communities I work with, not just as study participants, but as collaborators and co‑designers.”
Much of Taylor’s work centers on associations of affect, neuroinflammation, and inflammation among those with fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition. Currently, through a study funded by the Veterans Affairs Rehabilitation Research and Development Service, she is assessing these areas in Veterans to develop a Veteran-informed, exercise-based pain management intervention.
As part of her academy capstone project, Taylor will be working alongside a research mentor to build a patient advisory board from across our community to inform and strengthen her research program.
“A patient advisory board fundamentally strengthens my research by ensuring that it is shaped by the people most affected by it,” explained Taylor. “Through this process, I will receive direct input from individuals living with chronic pain, allowing interventions to reflect lived experience rather than assumptions. This input will guide everything from how interventions are structured to how outcomes are prioritized, making the work more relevant, feasible, and meaningful.
“Most importantly, a patient advisory board supports my broader goal of empowerment. I want my research to provide people with practical tools and resources they can use to better manage their pain and feel confident sharing those tools with others in their communities. By partnering with patients throughout the research process, the work becomes something that extends beyond the study itself. It becomes a shared effort to build knowledge, strengthen self‑efficacy, and create resources that live on through community connections.”
The USASP promotes scientific advances that reduce the burden of pain and shapes policies and practices that improve access to effective treatments and compassionate care.