Natoshia R. Cunningham, PhD, is a tenured associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine and is a licensed clinical psychologist. Her HELP Lab focuses on the psychological assessment and treatment of youth with chronic health conditions that involve pain.
One line of Dr. Cunningham’s research focuses on youth with functional abdominal pain disorders (FAPD). She uses neuroimaging techniques to better understand pediatric pain. Her recently completed NIH/NCCIH K23-funded research investigates the neural mechanisms of response to a cognitive behavioral treatment (Aim to Decrease Anxiety and Pain Treatment (ADAPT)) to manage pain and anxiety in youth with FAPD, which she developed as part of her prior NIH/NICHD F32 award. Dr. Cunningham has found evidence of aberrant functional connectivity patterns between the amygdala with other regions implicated in pain in youth with FAPD (published in PAIN) and has found ADAPT to be effective in improving pain-related outcomes in a randomized clinical trial as compared to usual care, which was published in Journal of Pediatrics. ADAPT has been translated to Swedish and colleagues from the Gothenburg region are integrating this approach into pediatric primary care settings.
Dr. Cunningham’s research also focuses on improving psychological care for children with painful rheumatologic conditions. She recently completed a multi-site study funded by the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance-Arthritis Foundation (CARRA-AF) to test a telehealth application of a tailored cognitive behavioral intervention (Treatment and Education Approach for Childhood-onset Lupus (TEACH)) she developed for adolescents and young adults diagnosed with childhood-onset lupus to manage fatigue, mood, and pain symptoms.
She was recently awarded a Transformative Vision Research Award from the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to test the implementation of TEACH into rheumatology clinics across the US and Canada. She was also recently awarded a grant from CARRA with the Lupus and Allied Diseases Association to study the role of adverse childhood experiences in health- and mental health- related outcomes in pediatric lupus, which will enable the development a tailored approach to psychological care.
Dr. Cunningham currently serves as the co-chair of the Mental Health Workgroup of the CARRA organization. In this role, she actively supports multiple projects geared towards improving psychological care for pediatric rheumatology patients. Collaborative projects include the development of mental health screening and management guidelines for pediatric rheumatology settings, studying the impact of adverse childhood events on health-related outcomes in juvenile idiopathic arthritis, understanding cognitive functioning in pediatric lupus, and the development of a family education program to promote pediatric mental health in pediatric rheumatology settings.
Dr. Cunningham is passionate about using implementation science to enhance pediatric health outcomes and reduce barriers to accessing behavioral healthcare. She was selected as an inaugural fellow of the 2023-2024 Community Engaged Research Fellows Program at Michigan State University. Further, Dr. Cunningham was funded by the Michigan Health Endowment Fund and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Michigan to train Michigan school providers (school nurses and mental health workers) to use pain-focused CBT strategies to address pediatric pain.
Dr. Cunningham received her BA in psychology from Boston University in 2005, graduating summa cum laude with distinction. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, she conducted pediatric mental health research at the Macquarie University Anxiety Research Unit (Sydney, Australia) and at the Columbia University Center for Advancement of Children’s Mental Health. She earned her PhD in clinical psychology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 2011, specializing in the assessment and treatment of childhood anxiety disorders. As part of her graduate training, she completed her clinical internship in pediatric behavioral medicine at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center from 2010-2011. She came to MSU from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, where she completed a postdoctoral fellowship in pediatric pain from 2011 to 2014 and served as research faculty from 2014 to 2019.
Grants
- Transforming behavioral healthcare to improve the quality of life for individuals with childhood-onset lupus
- Enhancing understanding and care for youth with cSLE experiencing Adverse Childhood Events
- Neural Mechanisms of response to an integrative treatment for youth with functional abdominal pain disorders (FAPD)
- Engaging School Providers to Manage Student Pain in Michigan Schools
- PURSUIT: A technologically augmented school-based program to improve child coping and to prevent substance misuse
