Tasha Stanton

Associate Professor Tasha Stanton is a clinical pain neuroscientist leading the Persistent Pain Research Group at SAHMRI and serving as co-Director of IIMPACT in Health at the University of South Australia, Adelaide. Originally trained as a physiotherapist, she explores the critical question: Why do we feel pain, and why does it sometimes stick around when nothing seems wrong?

Tasha's work crosses boundaries, from studying how our brains interpret pain using virtual and mediated reality to reshaping what we know about chronic pain through pain science education. She's published over 100 peer-reviewed articles, secured millions in competitive grant funding, and earned accolades including the World Congress of Pain Ronald Dubner Research Prize and the Australian Pain Society Rising Star Award. A gifted communicator, she founded the Brain Bus, a mobile experiential lab for sharing brain and pain science with rural and regional communities, and has been honored among Australia’s Top 5 Under 40 Science Communicators.

Tasha brings clarity, creativity, and compassion to discussions that demystify pain and empower people to understand their own experience in new, hopeful ways.