Christopher D. King, PhD

Member, Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology
Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics

christopher.king@cchmc.org

About

Biography

Dr. King has contributed to science by looking at psychological and group-level (i.e., subgrouping of patients) factors underlying analgesic responses to opioid analgesics in healthy adults, opioid regulation of conditioned pain modulation (CPM), and ethnic differences in experimental pain sensitivity, clinical pain, and pain-related disability in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). CPM is used to look at the modulatory capacity in humans. It is reduce in chronic pain and older age. Reduction of CPM may contribute to pain and alter somatosensory processing and autonomic regulation. As part of the OA study, Dr. King also examined predictors of knee pain prospectively. Lastly, Dr. King has been involved in several independent studies exploring possible stress-related markers associated with cold pain, which is used as the conditioning stimulus in CPM. He has shown that pain induces the release of endocrine and immune markers, and that they can influence pain responsiveness in pain-free subjects.

Dr. King recently finished a study with naltrexone, an opioid antagonist, on pain modulation, which revealed an interesting interaction between the ability to inhibit pain through endogenous opioids and psychological functioning in pain-free subjects. The recent studies are a first step in a process to evaluate physiological responses induced by pain.

Interests

Inflammation; digital health; wearables; pain; sleep; virtual reality

Research Areas

Publications

Selected

Preliminary evidence for conserved transcriptional response to adversity in adults with temporomandibular disorder. King, CD; Boggero, IA; Schulert, GS; Pickerill, HM; Cole, S. Pain Reports. 2021; 6:e874.

Reply to: Interindividual differences in pain can be explained by fMRI, sociodemographic, and psychological factors. Hoeppli, ME; Nahman-Averbuch, H; Hinkle, WA; Leon, E; Peugh, J; López-Solà, M; King, CD; Goldschneider, KR; Coghill, RC. Nature Communications. 2024; 15:7884.

The role of cytokines in acute and chronic postsurgical pain after major musculoskeletal surgeries in a quaternary pediatric center. Chidambaran, V; Duan, Q; Pilipenko, V; Glynn, SM; Sproles, A; Martin, LJ; Lacagnina, MJ; King, CD; Ding, L. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. 2024; 122:596-603.

Use of Biofeedback-Based Virtual Reality in Pediatric Perioperative and Postoperative Settings: Observational Study. Orgil, Z; Karthic, A; Bell, NF; Heisterberg, LM; Williams, SE; Ding, L; Kashikar-Zuck, S; King, CD; Olbrecht, VA. JMIR Perioperative Medicine. 2024; 7:e48959.

Weak Relationships Between Psychological Factors and Experimental Pain Outcomes in Pain-Free Individuals: An Aggregate Analysis of 8 Studies. Boggero, IA; Nahman-Averbuch, H; Hunter, BM; Peugh, J; Leon, E; Schneider, VJ; Emerson, NM; Thomas, PL; Kashikar-Zuck, S; Hughes, C; Hoeppli, ME; King, CD; Coghill, RC. Journal of Pain. 2024; 25:104444.

The need for a true biofeedback-based virtual reality system for achievement of target heart rate variability for children undergoing surgery. Orgil, Z; Heisterberg, LM; Froass, D; Karthic, A; Williams, SE; Ding, L; Kashikar-Zuck, S; King, CD; Olbrecht, VA. Pediatric Anesthesia. 2024; 34:577-579.

Tu2040 SLEEP DISTURBANCE AND RELATED IMPAIRMENT IN CHILDREN WITH FUNCTIONAL CONSTIPATION IN COLOMBIA. Santucci, NR; Velasco, C; Suarez, DA V; Li, J; King, C; Byars, KC; Dye, T; Saps, M. Gastroenterology. 2024; 166:s-1503.

Social health in young women with chronic pain. Boggero, IA; Sangalli, L; Brasch, L; King, CD. Pain Reports. 2024; 9:e1146.

Radiation Of Pain in Humans: Evidence for A Psychophysical Manifestation of a Neural Population Coding Mechanism?. Adamczyk, WM; Ramu, V; Jackson, C; Schulze, G; Goldschneider, KR; Kashikar-Zuck, S; King, CD; Coghill, RC. Journal of Pain. 2024; 25:20.

Children With Functional Abdominal Pain Have More Sleep Disturbances. First Of a Kind School Study. Santucci, N; Velasco-Benitez, CA; King, C; Byars, K; Dye, T; Saps, M. Journal of Pain. 2024; 25:67-68.