Natoshia R. Cunningham, PhD, is a clinical scientist and pediatric pain psychologist in the Department of Family Medicine at Michigan State University.  Her research broadly focuses on developing and testing accessible psychological treatments for youth with chronic and painful health conditions.  She is interested in leveraging implementation science to increase access to pain-focused care.  In line with this interest, Dr. Cunningham received grant support from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Michigan and the Michigan Health Endowment Fund to implement the HELP PAIN training program for Michigan school providers (school nurses and mental health workers) to use pain-focused CBT to address pediatric pain.

Dr. Cunningham currently holds a current NIH/NCCIH K23 award to study the neural mechanisms of response to a cognitive behavioral treatment she developed and found to be effective in an RCT to manage pain and anxiety in youth with FAPD.  She recently completed a multi-site randomized clinical trial funded by the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance-Arthritis Foundation (CARRA-AF) to test a telehealth application of a tailored cognitive behavioral intervention she developed for adolescents and young adults diagnosed with childhood-onset lupus to manage fatigue, mood, and pain symptoms.  

Dr. Cunningham received her BA in psychology from Boston University in 2005, graduating summa cum laude with distinction.  She earned her PhD in child clinical psychology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 2011 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in pediatric pain at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center from 2011 to 2014.