Lab Members

Pavel Goldstein, PhD – Head of Integrative Pain (iPain) Laboratory, Head of MPH Biostatistics track at the School of Public Health

I lead the Integrative Pain Laboratory (iPainLab), where our mission is to understand the mechanisms of neuroplastic chronic pain and develop innovative therapeutic and diagnostic tools. Recognizing that chronic pain is a multifaceted phenomenon involving various systems and their interactions, we focus on pain-specific mechanisms using neurophysiological, physiological, and biochemical measures. Our team has also created effective web-based and phone-based platforms, synced with wearables, to track chronic pain and associated mental health conditions.

In collaboration with methodologist Julia Zatulovsky, we developed the Personalized Danger Signal Reprocessing (PDSR) therapeutic approach to assist people in healing chronic pain in a scalable way. We also develop psychoeducational materials in forms of animation, songs, and articles to inform and inspire chronic pain sufferers on their healing journey.

Additionally, I oversee the recovery journeys of chronic pain patients, capturing their stories and experiences to share with millions suffering and healthcare providers that healing is possible.

Email: pavelg@stat.haifa.ac.il

LinkedIn | Google Scholar

Tamar Kleinhendler – Integrative Pain (iPain) Lab Research Manager; Communication & Journalism PhD Student

Tamar received her MA in Communications and her BA in Psychology and Communication from the University of Haifa. She is a PhD student at the Department of Communication and Journalism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her dissertation focuses on moral judgment and uncivil discourse on social media networks, aiming to better understand the emotional factors leading political polarization.

Alongside academic work, Tamar is an experienced marketing professional, with a demonstrated history of working on complex projects in the Consumer Goods & Pharmaceutical industries. Skilled in Marketing strategy, Digital Marketing, Content Development and Market Research.

Carmit Himmelblau Gat, PhD Student

Carmit’s academic background includes a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from the Technion, a BA in Psychology, and a subsequent Master’s in Clinical Psychology from Bar Ilan University. During her Master’s research, Carmit investigated the effects of oxytocin on behavioral dynamics within groups using computational techniques, showcasing her interdisciplinary approach to psychological research.

Carmit is deeply interested in understanding the therapeutic process in chronic pain recovery, focusing on the clinician-patient relationship and its influence on treatment outcomes. Her research aims to uncover the mechanisms underlying these interactions, translating scientific insights into effective clinical solutions. At the Integrative Pain Laboratory, Carmit leads a project to scale the Personalized Danger Signal Reprocessing (PDSR) intervention for widespread healthcare application in chronic pain recovery. Her work centers on examining physiological and behavioral synchronization between clinicians and patients throughout the recovery process

In addition to her current work as a PhD student, Carmit operates a private clinic. Before this, she worked as a chip designer and firmware engineer. Carmit’s expertise spans both theoretical understanding and practical implementation, providing her with a unique perspective on integrating technology into psychological interventions.

Email: carmithg@gmail.com

Shaked Rosenblum, PhD Student

With a diverse background encompassing clinical, academic, and industry settings, Shaked is dedicated to conducting impactful research that integrates innovative technology into healthcare. She holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Neuropsychology, which combines training in clinical and rehabilitative psychology with scientific expertise in brain research, particularly focusing on trauma and stress within the Psychopathology and Stress Laboratory. Additionally, Shaked is a graduate of the Biodesign program, a medical entrepreneurship initiative that utilizes design thinking methodology to drive medical innovation in collaboration with Rambam Health Care Campus, the Technion, and Stanford University.

Currently pursuing her doctoral studies, Shaked explores the intersection of technology and mental health. Her research leverages AI and digital technologies to enhance diagnostic approaches for chronic pain, aiming to improve the precision of chronic pain diagnoses. She also investigates the intricate relationship between body and mind, examining how mental health influences chronic pain and its management.

Beyond her doctoral research, Shaked is the founder and leader of a community focused on innovation and resilience in the mental health field. She is actively involved in the innovation labs at the University of Haifa, where she co-hosts the HILLCAST podcast, exploring how impact-driven initiatives and groundbreaking ideas push academic boundaries and foster real-world change.

Hiba Akel – Master of Clinical Pharmacy, student for PhD in Public Health

BSc Pharmacy, MSc Clinical Pharmacy

Hiba is a doctoral student in Public Health. Her doctoral research focuses on examining the impact of multilevel factors affecting drug-prescribing errors in inpatients, and the optimization of clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) to improve safety of medication treatment. Hiba obtained her Master of Science in Clinical Pharmacy from the Hebrew University, during which she investigated the effectiveness of antibiotic lock therapy in hematoncology children with Catheter Related Blood Stream Infection (CRBSI). Currently, she is a clinical pharmacist at the Clalit Health Services with expertise in CDSSs, Clinical informatics, Medication safety, and antimicrobial stewardship.

Accomplishments:

Developed and implemented a clinical decision support system responsible for assessing medication safety for a large investigational study.
Worked with product designers and product managers to design user interfaces in clinical applications.
Datamined large healthcare datasets utilizing SQL report writing.

Skill Highlights: Electronic health record and Clinical Decision support system specialist, Clinical Pharmacy practice experience, SQL report generation and analysis, Clinical informatics, Medication safety, project management, workflow optimization.

Research interests include medication safety, antimicrobial stewardship and CDSS.

Email: hibaakel24@gmail.com

Michal Weiss – PhD student (Haifa University Committee for Research Students)

BSc Psychobiology, MSc Brain Research

Michal completed her Bachelor’s in Psychobiology at the Hebrew University and her Master’s in Brain Research at Bar Ilan University. Her Master’s research focused on theoretical concepts of modulating effect of tdcs and its influence on attentional load.

Michal is interested in how biology and psychology interact to form emotion and behavior. She is passionate about understanding complex systems and in translating basic scientific concepts to clinical solutions. She has an extensive experience in working with R&D teams on digital healthcare systems, serving as a scientific analyst and product specialist in several startups.

Since she joined the Integrative Pain Laboratory in September 2020, Michal is leading the Pain Radar project. This interdisciplinary project, in collaboration with professor Haick (Technion), aims to develop a Fibromyalgia signature and a monitoring tool for chronic pain based on cutting-edge biochemical techniques and physiological tools.

Email: Michalweiss87@gmail.com

LinkedIn | Google Scholar

Alexandra Zhuravlyova, PhD Student

Alexandra Zhuravlyova holds an MSc in Information Technology, where she researched cloud-based information systems, and a BSc in Biology, both obtained in Ukraine. Her academic foundation spans technology and life sciences, positioning her at the intersection of AI, healthcare, and science.

Not only pursuing her academical efforts, Alexandra gained a lot of industrial experience while working in startups and enterprise companies through analyzing digital signal data, including audio and physiological signals. Improving her digital signal processing skills over the years, she mastered this skill and now develops AI-solutions based on the signal data, which are further applied across various fields.

This interdisciplinary background equips her to contribute effectively to the varios projects at the iPain Lab using Large Language Models to advance chronic pain diagnostics and management.

Alexandra’s upcoming Ph.D. centers on modeling resistance in psychotherapy for chronic pain patients, where she aims to identify individualized resistance factors. Additionally, she has developed an AI algorithm for emotion detection in speech, aligning with her focus on empathetic AI to enhance patient-centered approaches in healthcare.

Natalya Polyvyannaya - PhD student

Master of Social Science in Psychology.

Specialization of practice in dance-movement and body-oriented non-clinical psychotherapy.

Interests in science: creativity, well-being, stress, chronic pain, psychological interventions.

Got bachelor’s as Psychologist, instructor of Physical Therapy/massages, teacher of Foreign Languages and graduate degree as engineer of Electronical Systems.

Worked as graphical designer, psychologist, and lecturer of Psychology in English and teacher of different stuff.

Passionate about Authentic Movement, somatic practices, touch therapies and stuff.

Email: natpolymat@gmail.com

Boris Boltyansky – Master student in Public Health (MPH), Biostatistics track

BSc Computer Science, BSc Biology, MSc Neurobiology

Email: bboltyan@campus.haifa.ac.il

Boris completed his Bachelor’s in Computer Science and Biology at the University of Haifa and his Master’s in Neurobiology at the University of Haifa as well. His Master’s research focused on neuropathic pain processing in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus.

Since he joined the Integrative Pain Laboratory on January 2021, Boris is in charge of the PainStory project. The project aims to develop a digital platform for pain detection, based on facial expressions, voice and inferred language content.

Boris leads the technological effort of platform establishment, along with subsequent development of cloud-based machine learning algorithms for feature extraction and data analysis. As part of his research, Boris uses collected data to develop novel pain measures that go beyond the standard self-report assessment.

Reema Katish, MA Student

Reema completed her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Cognitive Sciences at the University of Haifa. During her Bachelor’s she joined the lab in 2021 as a research assistant for the Pain Radar project. And came back in 2024 as a Master’s student in Clinical NeuroPsychology at the University of Haifa.

Currently, Reema is a part of the PDSR (Personalized Danger Signal Reprocessing) project which aims to examine the effects of a PDSR intervention on chronic pain among musculoskeletal sufferers. She’s interested in finding new practical approaches for healing chronic health issues, such as chronic pain, and other mind-body conditions.

Reema is a big believer of holistic approaches in therapeutic practices, and beyond enthusiastic about mind-body interactions and dynamics. She believes that balancing those interactions can lead to a balanced mental and physical health.

Email: reemaka9999@gmail.com