Research

Dr. Han’s program of research prioritizes a biopsychosocial perspective and utilizes advanced quantitative and computational methods to improve wellbeing for complex clinical populations, including autism and chronic pain. In both populations, high rates of co-occurring mental health (e.g., depression, anxiety) and physical health conditions lead to functional impairment and worse quality of life. Differences in processing sensory, emotional, and social information may underly high rates of co-occurring chronic pain syndromes in autistic individuals, with recent reports indicating that autistic women are most vulnerable.

A computational approach clarifying specific mechanisms maintaining functional impairment (e.g., threat learning, reinforcement learning, cognitive inflexibility, emotional processing) that also acknowledges the interplay among (neuro)biological, psychological, and social factors (e.g., machine learning, network analysis) is needed to more efficiently and effectively promote positive health outcomes.

These research aims motivate the soon-to-come Computation & Learning in Mind and Body (CLIMB) Lab directed by Dr. Han. Stay tuned!

Publications

A current list of publications can be found here.