Ben is a neuroscientist with a core interest in pain, injury and clinical neuroengineering. His research is built on developing the computational neuroscience of the pain system: covering both how pain works well to protect us from and through injury (‘good’ pain), and how sometimes pain can persist beyond it usefulness towards chronic pain (‘bad’ pain). Much of his previous work has focused on acute pain, and its role in enhancing bodily protection through learning, and his research uses a range of tools from theory and simulation, through to behaviour and brain imaging. His current research extends this to models of injury: how the brain encodes and represents the injured state, and how this directs and control of the hyper-protective and recuperative behaviours (tonic pain and pain hypersensitivity, fatigue, anxiety and mood changes, and changes in appetite and sleep) – so called ‘behavioural homeostasis.

Ben works clinically, one day a week, as an honorary consultant neurologist in the NHS. He also has a particular translational interest in the design of novel neurotechnologies to support people with injury and chronic pain. He co-leads several multi-site projects on chronic pain, include the NIHR Oxford Health BRC, The APDP Chronic Pain Learning project, and the EPSRC Chronic Pain Neurotechnology Network+. He is also a Wellcome Senior Clinical Fellow, Turing Fellow, and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.