People

Dr. Robert E. Sorge, PhD (he/him/his)

Dr. Robert Sorge grew up in a country hamlet in southern Canada and currently lives and works in Birmingham Alabama, where he and his family have numerous animals and gardens. He completed his PhD at Concordia University and completed two postdoctoral fellowships at McGill University studying addiction and pain. His pain research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham has spanned sex/gender differences, immunity and diet across rodents and humans. He has taught an annual pain class to undergraduate and graduate students since 2013 and enjoys it every year. He also acts as the Co-Director of the Undergraduate Neuroscience Program (https://www.uab.edu/cas/neuroscience/). When he is not conducting research or teaching, he enjoys axe-throwing, making things in his garage, and hanging out with his kids. 

Tammie Quinn

Stacie Totsch, PhD

Dyan White, BS

Dyan was born in Oxfordshire, England to a US military family and has spent the better part of her life moving across the US and UK before ending up at UAB for her degree. Accomplishing a Bachelor of Science studying Psychology and communicable diseases in 2015, she has dedicated nearly a decade to research surrounding chronic pain and discrimination within populations living with HIV. She is currently a Clinical Research Coordinator II responsible for an interdisciplinary team seeking to understand the relationships between chronic pain and Insomnia. Along with coordinating, Dyan assists other researchers with training and education on studies requiring quantitative sensory testing (QST) and protocol development while actively attending graduate school for a certification in laboratory management. Outside of the lab space, she hardly remains still, enjoying spending free time helping family and friends with projects, or educating herself on ways to improve both physical and mental health and wellness. 

Adriana Sotolongo-Addison, BS, MPH

Adriana trained as a Psychologist at the Catholica de Colombia University, Bogota, Colombia in 1993. She traveled to the United States in 1996 and joined the Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology as Visiting Research Assistant.  She completed her master’s in public health with a major in Epidemiology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham degree in 2009. Over the last 26 years, she has worked in the Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, in various administrative and research positions graduating from Research Coordinator to her current position as Program Manager in the Department of Psychology.  Her research has focused on Osteoarthritis, Fibromyalgia, and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome as well as work-related injuries that result in chronic pain. As a program manager, she is responsible for the oversight and implementation of NIH-funded cross-sectional and longitudinal studies projects involving interdisciplinary teams of investigators from Rheumatology, Preventive Medicine, Biostatistics, and Psychology

Shivraj Grewal

Asia Wiggins, BS (she/her)

Asia Wiggins is a doctoral student in the Behavioral Neuroscience Ph.D. Program at UAB working with Dr. Robert Sorge. In 2019, Asia received her B.S. in Psychology from The University of Montevallo, where her research focused on the role of executive functioning on pain sensitivity. Currently, she is broadly interested in examining influential biopsychosocial factors that may contribute to chronic pain outcomes and individual differences therein. Her current research examines the effect of a low carbohydrate diet on knee osteoarthritis pain among black and white men and women. She is also examining this effect across an additional cohort of amputee pain with black and white men and women. In her free time, she enjoys hiking and reading historical texts.

Pavithra Andrea Thomas, BS (she/her)

Andrea is a graduate student in UAB’s Medical/Clinical psychology program. Before coming to UAB, she graduated from Western Washington University with a B.S. in Psychology in 2016, and served as a Clinical Research Coordinator for the University of Washington’s departments of Anesthesiology and Rehabilitation Medicine. Andrea’s research interests surround chronic pain and social determinants of health. Her clinical interests include emotion regulation, adult health, rehabilitation, and pain interventions. Andrea is currently an interventionist for an RCT focused on mindfulness-meditation combined with transcranial direct current stimulation in non-Hispanic black and white adults with knee osteoarthritis.

Sammy Stocking, BS (she/her)

Sammy is a graduate student in UAB’s Behavioral Neuroscience program. She hails from Greenville, South Carolina and graduated from the College of Charleston with honors in 2022 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a minor in Neuroscience. At the College of Charleston, Sammy studied sex differences and neuroplasticity in Alpheus angulosus (snapping shrimp). Sammy’s research interests include exploring the role of sex hormones on stress, diet, pain, and aging, as well as psychedelic therapy. Currently, Sammy is coordinating the SHINE Study and running a pilot study investigating the effects of sex and diet on migraine pain in mice. In her free time, Sammy enjoys hiking, reading a good non-fiction book, fiber arts, and gardening. 

Paige Van Ditta, BS (she/her)

Paige is a PhD student in the Behavioral Neuroscience program. She is from Maryland, and has a BS in Psychology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Her current research interests include the intersection of diet and chronic pain, as well as dietary/health care policy in the US. Paige is a research coordinator on the DIRECTPain and PARADE studies. In her free time, Paige enjoys fiber arts, mystery novels, and cooking plant-based meals. 

Caroline Webb, BS (she/her/hers)

Caroline is a graduate student in UAB’s Medical/Clinical psychology program. She received her B.S. in Psychology from Appalachian State University in 2019. Upon graduation, she received a Fulbright grant to teach English abroad at the Universidad de Timor Lorosae in Dili, Timor-Leste. Caroline served as a Research Coordinator at Johns Hopkins University in the Behavioral Medicine Research Lab in Baltimore, MD prior to coming to Birmingham. While in Baltimore, she served as the lead coordinator for a multi-site randomized clinical trial for treatment of knee osteoarthritis, training other coordinators across the country in the study protocol. Her clinical interests include improving quality of life for individuals who experience chronic pain, illness, or injury. Her research focuses on the intersection of identity, stigmatization, and perceived pain experience. She is currently a coordinator on the SHINE study. In her free time Caroline enjoys hiking with her partner, propagating plants, and making handmade silver jewelry

Sunil Suresh

Sunil is a third-year Neuroscience major from Franklin, TN. Since August 2022, he has worked as an undergraduate research assistant. He has gained valuable knowledge about the local amputee population by working on the PARADE study, and is very excited to make contributions to more studies in the future. In my free time, he enjoys exercising, playing sports, cooking, and baking.

Nathan Goldfeiz

Nathan was born in Silver Spring, Maryland. At UAB, he is a rising Junior in Immunology and is enrolled in the Multidisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Master’s program with a concentration in Immunology. In his spare time, he likes reading and learning about history and geography, as well as traveling to new places.

Ayona Roychowdhury

Ayona is a third-year student and a longtime resident of Birmingham, Alabama. She is working on an individually designed BS in Affecting Disease Outcomes: Neuroimmunology. Within the lab, she works with chronic lower back pain and gender as factors in general pain tolerance. In her free time, she loves to read anything and everything, learn Odissi (an Indian dance form), and go hiking in the area!

Branwen Apgwilym (she/her)

Branwen is a fourth-year Neuroscience major with a minor in Chemistry from Madison, AL. In her free time, Branwen likes to travel, try new cuisines, and spend time with friends! After graduation she hopes to continue on the research path and pursue a PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience!

Shruti Gunapati (she/her)

Shruti is a fourth-year Neuroscience major from Jackson, Mississippi. In her free time, she enjoys reading, drawing, being outside, and spending time with friends and family. Following graduation, she hopes to attend graduate school and pursue a career in research. 

Halla Stallworth

Halla was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. She is a senior Neuroscience major here at UAB as well as a cheerleader and plays the French horn in the Wind Symphony Band. Halla’s research interests include understanding the relationship between vitamins in our diets and their effect on pain sensitivity and inflammation. Go Blazers!