Zina Trost
  • Associate Professor
Research Areas
  • Clinical

Research Interests

My research interests fall into three broad, overlapping categories:

1)  First, I am interested in cognitive, affective, and behavioral factors that may contribute to development of chronic pain/disability or facilitate positive adjustment following physical injury. Currently my work focuses on the role of perceptions of injustice regarding one’s pain, injury, or circumstance. I am especially interested in the intersection of injustice perceptions with larger societal inequities, such as discrimination.

2)  Second, I am interested in how we understand the pain and suffering of others, and in particular whether individuals (e.g., healthcare providers) may make decisions based on unconscious bias regarding patient characteristics, such as gender, weight, or race.

3)  Finally, my work applies emerging virtual technologies to pressing issues in chronic pain, disability, and rehabilitation, including the above issues. My currently funded research employs a “virtual walking” paradigm to alleviate chronic neuropathic pain in individuals with spinal cord injury. We are also using haptic virtual reality to restore touch perception among individuals with ‘discomplete’ SCI. These are Department of Defense-funded
international and multisite projects.

 Office Hours: by appointment

 Accepting Students for 2024-2025?: Yes

Selected Publications

  • PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS (reverse chronological order)

     * Graduate student at time of publication; ** Undergraduate student at time of publication; ***Postdoc at time of publication

    • Alnojeidi, A. H.*, Capo-Lugo, C., Sturgeon, J.A., & Trost, Z. (in press, 2025). Preliminary study: The role of ethnic identity, religiosity, and discrimination in injustice appraisal among Arab-Americans with chronic low back pain. Journal of Pain.

    • Daenen, F.**, Bert, F., *, Van Ryckhem, D., Trost, Z., & Vervoort, T. (in press, 2025). Assessing child pain-related injustice appraisals: A discriminant content analysis study. European Journal of Pain.

    • Baert, F., McParland, J., Turtle, E., Dickson, A., Wiseman-Gregg, K, Wallace, E., Trost, Z., & Vervoort, T. (in press, 2025). “It’s not fair!” Fathers’ perceptions of injustice in the context of pediatric chronic pain: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Journal of Pain.

    • Sturgeon, J., Ziadni, M., Trost, Z., Hasslett, A. (2024). Scratching the surface: The Complex interface of chronic pain and mental health treatment needs in the United States. PAIN.

    • Trost, A., Sturgeon, J.A., Agtarap, S., McMinn, K., McShan, E., Boals, A., Arewasikporn, A., Foreman, M., & Warren, A. (2024). The impact of perceived injustice on pain and psychological outcomes following traumatic injury: A longitudinal analysis. PAIN, 165, 1583-1591. PMID: 38258952.

    • Sturgeon, J., Kaplan, C., Arewasikporn, A., Slepian, M., Zubieta, C., Hassett, A., & Trost, Z. (2024). Broadening the scope of resilience in chronic pain: Methods, social context, and development. Current Rheumatology Reports, 26, 112-123. PMID: 38270842

    • Miller, M., Kissi, A., Rumble, D., Hirsh, A., Vervoort, T., Crosby, L., Madan-Swain, A., Lebensburger, J., & Trost, Z. (in press, 2024). Pain-related injustice appraisals, sickle cell stigma, and racialized discrimination in youth with sickle cell disease: a preliminary investigation. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. PMID: 39653988

    • Vorensky M.*, Kissi, A.* (shared first authorship), Sturgeon, S., Vervoort, T., & Trost, Z., (2024). Racial differences in movement-evoked pain appraisals and pain behaviors among adults with chronic low back pain. Journal of Pain, 25, 104438. PMID: 38065466

    • Sturgeon, J. A., Pierce, J., & Trost, Z., (2024). Initial validation of the 12-item Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia in a retrospective sample of adults with chronic headache. Pain Medicine,25, 187-183. PMID: 37930882

    • Blanchard, E., Trost, Z., Brown, M., Shum, C., & Meese, M. (2024) Combining stress inoculation with virtual reality simulation training of malignant hperthermia. Advances in Simulation, 16, 35. PMID: 39152517

    • Gustin, S., Bolding, M., Willoughby, W., Anam, M., Seward, J., Shum, C., Rumble, D., Sturgeon, J.A., Mark, V., Chen, Y., Mitchell, L., Cowa, R., Perera, R., Richardson, E., Richards, S., & Trost, Z. (2023). Cortical mechanisms underlying immersive interactive virtual walking treatment for amelioration of neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury: Findings from a preliminary investigation of thalamic inhibitory function. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 12, 5743. PMID: 37685810

    • Daenen, F.**,Bert, F., *, McParland, J., Trost, Z., Schillemans, A., Tanghe, A., & Vervoort, T. (2024). Child appraisals of injustice in the context of acute & chronic pain: An interpretative phenomenological analysis.  European Journal of Pain.

    • Crouch, T., Sturgeon, J., Guck, A., Higawara, N., Smith, W., & Trost, Z. (2023). Race and belief in a just world: Implications for pain acceptance among individuals with chronic low back pain. Journal of Pain, 16, S1526-5900. PMID: 37454884- Early Career Author Award at 2024 USASP Annual Meeting

    • Daenen, F.**, Wauters, A., Trost, Z. Van Ryckehem, D., & Vervoort, T. (2023). Youth baseline and state pain-related injustice appraisals are associated with emotional responses of anger and sadness: An experimental study. Frontiers Pain Research, 21, 1080461. PMID: 37151841

    • Richardson, E., Trost, Z., Payne, M., & Wiggins, A. (2023). The negative effect of social discrimination on pain tolerance and the moderating role of pain catastrophizing. Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings, 30, 169-81. PMID: 35244822

    • Parker, A.*, Sebrow, L., Foley, F., Hirky, E.L., Robbins, M., Trost., Z., & Seng, E., (2023). Injustice, quality of life, and psychiatric symptoms in people with migraine. Rehabilitation Psychology, 68, 77-90. PMID: 36633992

    • Shubiner, H., Jackson, B., Molina, K.M., Sturgeon, J.A., Sealy-Jefferson, S., Lumley, M.A., Jolly, J., & Trost., Z. (2023). Racism as a source of pain. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 38, 1729-1734. PMID: 36737536

     

    RESEARCH SUPPORT

    • FEELING AGAIN AFTER PARALYSIS: Combining Haptic Virtual Reality and Spinal Cord Neuromodulation to Restore Touch Perception in Complete Paraplegia National Health and Medical Research Council Ideas Grant (01/01/25 – 12/31/29) Gustin (PI) Role: Co-PI

    • Characterizing Provider Bias in Physical Therapy NIH HEAL National K12 Clinical Pain Career Development Award (06/01/24 – 06/30/27) Vorensky (PI) Role: Mentor

    • Virginia Consortium for Spinal Cord Injury Care National Institute on Disability & Rehabilitation Research (10/1/21 – 09/30/26) Gorgey (PI), Trost (Co-PI, Co-I upon departure from VCU)

    • Exploring Virtual Reality Mindfulness Training for Veterans with SCI and Chronic Pain VA Career Development Award 1IK1RX004813-01A2 (11/01/2024 – 10/30/2028) Touchett (PI), Role: Mentor

    • Pain Reprocessing Therapy for Veterans with Chronic Back Pain DOD Chronic Pain Research Program Clinical Outcomes Research Award (06/01/2024 – 05/30/2027) Ashar (PI), Role: Co-I

    • Using Mediated Reality to Reduce Knee Osteoarthritis Pain and Improve Exercise Engagement DOD Chronic Pain Research Program Clinical Exploration Award (06/01/2024 – 05/30/2025) Stanton (PI), Role: Co-I

    • Brief Pain Reprocessing Therapy: An Optimized Integrative Exposure Intervention for Veterans with Chronic Low Back Pain DOD Chronic Pain Research Program Clinical Exploration Award (06/01/2024 – 05/30/2025) Sturgeon (PI), Role: Co-I

    • Examining Stress Response in Physician Assistant Students Using Virtual Reality Simulation Education Innovation Grant, UAB School of Health Professions (03/15/2024 – 02/30/2025) Blanchard (PI), Role: Co-I

    • Improving Cardiometabolic Health in Individuals with SCI Using Home-based Interactive Virtual Gaming. DOD Spinal Cord Injury Research Program Translational Research Grant W81XWH-22-SCIRP-CTA (03/01/23 – 04/30/26) Finley (PI), Role: Co-I

    • Virtual Reality at the Point of Care to Increase Uptake of MOUD in the ED R21/R33 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality 1R21HS029536-01 (PI), Role: Co-I  

    • A Pilot Trial to Examine Immersive Virtual Walking at Treatment for Neuropathic Pain in Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury DOD Spinal Cord Injury Research Program Clinical Trial Award, HT9425-23-1-1019 (03/01/23 – 04/30/26) Trost (PI)

    • Home-Based Immersive Virtual Reality and Spinal Stimulation for Upper Limb Rehabilitation in Tetraplegia DOD Spinal Cord Injury Research Program Investigator-Initiated Award W81XWH2210251 (8/01/22 - 7/31/25) Peterson, Trost (MPI)

    • RESTORE: lmmersive Virtual Reality Treatment for Restoring in People with Discomplete Paraplegia New South Wales Health Ministry Spinal Cord Injury Research Grants Program (06/01/20 - 05/31/25) Gustin, Trost (MPI)

    • A Multisite Randomized Clinical Trial to Examine the Efficacy and Mechanisms of Immersive Virtual Walking Treatment for Neuropathic Pain in Spinal Cord Injury DOD Spinal Cord Injury Research Program Clinical Trial Award (10/01/20 - 09/31/26) Trost (PI)