Afton L Hassett, PsyD
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Program Director, Anesthesiology
Chronic Pain & Fatigue Research Center
24 Frank Lloyd Wright Drive PO Box 385
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
[email protected]

Available to mentor

Afton L Hassett, PsyD
Associate Professor
  • About
  • Links
  • Qualifications
  • Research Overview
  • Recent Publications
  • About

    Dr. Hassett is a licensed clinical psychologist who is an Associate Professor and the Director of Pain and Opioid Research in the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Michigan (UM). As a principal investigator at the renowned Chronic Pain & Fatigue Research Center at UM, she conducts interdisciplinary research related to exploring the role of cognitive, affective, and behavioral factors in chronic pain. She has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and is a leader in the field of resilience and pain. Dr. Hassett is a Past President of the Association of Rheumatology Professionals – a division of the American College of Rheumatology. She is also the author of “Chronic Pain Reset: 30 Days of Activities, Practices and Skills to Help You Thrive,” an innovative pain self-management book for patients and their clinicians released in the fall of 2023.

    Links
    • http://aftonhassett.com/
    Qualifications
    • Psy D
      Alliant International University, San Diego, 2000
    Research Overview

    Dr. Hassett's research has focused on exploring the role of positive emotions in people with pain, as well as novel interventions to promote resilience and better pain self-management. Her current NIH-funded research (over $14M) involves developing resilience-enhancing activities for people with chronic pain (NINR R01 AR070296), testing the mechanisms underlying treatments for chronic low back pain (HEAL BACPAC U19 Center and the BEST Study) and developing “prehabilitation” programs for anxious surgical patients to optimize outcomes (MiCarePath). Other collaborative projects exploring resilience enhancing interventions on which she is a Co-Investigator include Roadmap for BMT Caregivers (PI: Choi HL146354), Positive STEPS (PI: Janevic NRR02042) and RENEW for Scleroderma (PI: Murphy ACR Award).

    Recent Publications See All Publications
    • Journal Article
      Broadening the Scope of Resilience in Chronic Pain: Methods, Social Context, and Development.
      Sturgeon JA, Zubieta C, Kaplan CM, Pierce J, Arewasikporn A, Slepian PM, Hassett AL, Trost Z. Curr Rheumatol Rep, 2024 Jan 25; DOI:10.1007/s11926-024-01133-0
      PMID: 38270842
    • Journal Article
      An Interventional Response Phenotyping Study in Chronic Low Back Pain: Protocol for a Mechanistic Randomized Controlled Trial.
      Hassett AL, Williams DA, Harris RE, Harte SE, Kaplan CM, Schrepf A, Kratz AL, Brummett CM, Kidwell KM, Tsodikov A, Shaikh S, Murphy SL, Lobo R, King A, Favorite T, Fisher L, Golmirzaie GM, Kohns DJ, Schneiderhan JR, Mawla I, Ichesco E, McAfee J, Wasserman RA, Banner E, Scott KA, Cole C, Clauw DJ. Pain Med, 2023 Aug 4; 24 (Suppl 1): S126 - S138. DOI:10.1093/pm/pnad005
      PMID: 36708026
    • Journal Article
      Effects of a Resilience-Building Energy Management Program on Fatigue and Other Symptoms in Systemic Sclerosis: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
      Murphy SL, Chen YT, Alore M, Hicks S, Pape A, Hassett AL, Kratz AL, Whibley D, Harper AE, Huang S, Jay G, Bolde S, Khanna D. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken), 2023 Oct 17; DOI:10.1002/acr.25253
      PMID: 37846437
    • Journal Article
      Neurobiological antecedents of multisite pain in children.
      Kaplan CM, Schrepf A, Mawla I, Ichesco E, Boehnke KF, Beltz A, Foxen-Craft E, Puglia MP, Tsodikov A, Williams DA, Hassett AL, Clauw DJ, Harte SE, Harris RE. Pain, 2022 Apr 1; 163 (4): e596 - e603. DOI:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002431
      PMID: 34382607
    • Book
      Chronic Pain Reset: 30 Days of Activities, Practices, and Skills to Help You Thrive
      Hassett AL. 2023 Sep 5;
    • Journal Article
      Broadening the Scope of Resilience in Chronic Pain: Methods, Social Context, and Development.
      Sturgeon JA, Zubieta C, Kaplan CM, Pierce J, Arewasikporn A, Slepian PM, Hassett AL, Trost Z. Curr Rheumatol Rep, 2024 Jan 25; DOI:10.1007/s11926-024-01133-0
      PMID: 38270842
    • Journal Article
      Associations between CD70 methylation of T cell DNA and age in adults with systemic lupus erythematosus and population controls: The Michigan Lupus Epidemiology & Surveillance (MILES) Program.
      Somers EC, Goodrich JM, Wang L, Harlow SD, Marder W, Hassett AL, Zick SM, McCune WJ, Gordon C, Barbour KE, Helmick CG, Strickland FM. J Autoimmun, 2023 Dec 7; 142: 103137 DOI:10.1016/j.jaut.2023.103137
      PMID: 38064919
    • Journal Article
      ACCEPTABILITY OF PODCASTS TO ENHANCE WELLNESS SKILLS AMONG OLDER ADULTS IN AN UNDERSERVED COMMUNITY
      Janevic M, Lindsay R, Brewer R, Hill-Ashford Y, Guzman R, Robinson-Lane S, Hassett A, Murphy S. Innovation in Aging, 2023 Dec 21; 7 (Supplement_1): 871 - 872. DOI:10.1093/geroni/igad104.2806