Emma Rheel, Ph.D., obtained a Master's degree in Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy in 2017 at Ghent University, Belgium. In Oct 2018 she started working as a PhD student within the Pain in Motion (PAIN) research group, Dept. of Physiotherapy, Human Physiology and Anatomy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, and the Ghent Health Psychology Lab, Department of Experimental-Clinical and Health Psychology,  Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. Her PhD research focused on the role of robot-led distraction, pain science education and parental responses in understanding alterations of pain-related outcomes in children with (chronic) pain. Emma defended her PhD titled “Pediatric pain – the impact of parental responses and pain science education upon pain-related outcomes” on October 5, 2022. Currently, Emma has a part-time postdoc position at the VUB in the Pain in Motion (PAIN) research group, in combination with a part-time position at the Dept. Education and Student affairs (educational innovation) at the VUB. Emma was introduced to IPOS in 2021 by IPOS members Prof. Dr. Lauren Heathcote (member of IPOS Editorial Board) and Prof. Dr. Fiona Schulte, through collaborating on a pediatric psycho-oncology topical review. She is very much looking forward to her first IPOS World Congress in Milan from August 31 to September 3, 2023.

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