Marianne S. Matthias, PhD

Dr. Matthias earned her Ph.D., in health communication and social psychology from Purdue University in 2006 and recently joined the University of Arizona College of Nursing as Professor and Associate Dean of Research. She is a health services researcher who focuses on patient empowerment in healthcare contexts, with interests in treatment decision-making in chronic pain care and behavioral interventions to improve chronic pain care and advance health equity. She has specific methodological expertise in qualitative methodology and clinical trials. 

Dr. Matthias recently completed a Veterans Administration (VA) funded study as principal investigator of a randomized controlled trial focused on patient activation and communication for Black Veterans with chronic pain. She was recently principal investigator on a VA-funded clinical trial to increase the use of evidence-based nonpharmacological pain treatments and co-principal investigator on a VA-funded mixed-methods study examining the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on veterans' pain management. She is currently principal investigator on a study funded by National Institutes of Health National Institute of Nursing Research and HEAL Initiative focused on increasing access to treatment options for Black patients with chronic pain and comorbid depression. 

In addition, she is a co-investigator on several other funded studies, including a study funded by NIH's HEAL Initiative testing a mindfulness-based intervention to improve pain management and reduce opioid use among rural veterans. Dr. Matthias serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of General Internal Medicine and Pain Medicine and has published over 100 scholarly articles.