Ellen Yeung

The goal of Dr. Yeung's research program is to understand the unique and shared risk and resilience factors underlying addiction and chronic pain, and the mechanisms linking the two. In particular, using a lifespan developmental perspective, her work aims to examine the influences of genetics, social environment, and their interplay on: (1) the pathologies of addiction and pain, independently (2) sensitivity to pain among individuals with addiction; (3) susceptibility to addiction among patients with chronic pain; and (4) the biopsychosocial pathways that may account, at least in part, for the reciprocal relation between addiction and chronic pain. In addition, Dr. Yeung is enthusiastic to extend her research to understanding the role of addiction-pain comorbidity among people living with HIV/AIDS. A list of her publications can be viewed through NIH's National Library of Medicine.