Lab Members
Marc O. Martel, PhD - Assistant Professor
Lab Director
Dr. Martel is an Assistant Professor in the Faculties of Dentistry and Medicine (Dept. of Anesthesia) at McGill University. Dr. Martel received a PhD in Clinical Psychology from McGill University in 2012 and then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at Harvard Medical School. His research program aims at examining the biopsychosocial determinants of prescription opioid misuse and addiction among patients with pain. Dr. Martel holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Chronic Pain, Mental Health and Opioid Use.
Graduate Students
Alice Bruneau
Alice is a PhD student in the Division of Experimental Medicine at McGill since 2019. She holds a B.Sc. in pharmacology & therapeutics and a M.Sc. in neurosciences from McGill University. She presented the results of her master’s thesis at the International Symposium for Pediatric Pain in Basel, Switzerland for which she received an award by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP). She now studies the psychological and biological determinants of prescription opioid misuse in patients with chronic pain.
Alberto Herrero Babiloni
Alberto is from Valencia and obtained his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree (DDS) as well as a Masters in Comparative Literature from the University of Valencia (Spain). In addition, he holds a Masters of Science from the University of Minnesota, where he completed a 2 year residency program and one year of research fellowship in orofacial pain and sleep medicine. Alberto was then involved in various projects relating to non-invasive brain stimulation and sleep treatment in orofacial pain populations at Université de Montréal. He joined the Martel Lab to begin his Ph.D in the Division of Experimental Medicine where he will examine the effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation on pain and problematic opioid use outcomes in patients with chronic pain.
Leah Frimerman
Leah is from Brooklyn, New York and holds a Bachelors of Science in Biology and Psychology from Touro College. Her involvement in Pain Research began at the Biomedical Research Park of Barcelona, Spain where her work with animal models and neuropharmacology focused on investigating mechanisms involved in neuropathic pain. She joined the Martel Lab as a graduate student in the Division of Experimental Medicine where she is currently investigating the biological and psychological determinants of opioid craving and misuse in chronic pain patients prescribed long-term opioid therapy.
Masha (Maria) Verner
Masha is from Montreal, Quebec and recently graduated from Concordia University with a Bachelors of Science in Psychology. She joined the Martel Lab in 2017 as a research assistant and is currently doing an MSc in Dental Sciences. Her work examines the influence of perceived injustice on opioid craving and opioid misuse in chronic pain patients prescribed opioid therapy.
Robina Sotoodeh
Robina was born in Tehran, Iran. She is a thesis-based master student in the Faculty of Dentistry at McGill. She recently obtained her bachelor’s degree in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Toronto (Class of 2019). She first developed a passion for pain research at Dr. Moayedi’s lab at the University of Toronto Faculty of Dentistry where she conducted behavioral studies and investigated a value-based model of pain-cognition. She joined the Martel Lab in 2019 and her thesis examines the predictors of pain and problematic opioid use after oral and maxillofacial surgery.
Undergraduate Students
Tristan Spilak
Tristan is from Terrebone, Quebec, and is pursuing a Bachelors of Science in Pharmacology at McGill University. Having joined the Martel Lab as a research assistant, his work aims to utilize electronic medical records to characterize prescription opioid use patterns among chronic pain patients prescribed long-term opioid therapy. He is also involved in projects based on the Quebec Cannabis Registry.
Kelly Cool
Kelly is from Montreal, Quebec. She recently completed her Bachelors of Arts in Psychology with a double minor in Behavioral Science and Sociology from McGill University. Kelly is a clinical research coordinator for Dr. Marc O. Martel and Dr. Luda Diatchenko. She is primarily involved in a large multisite study focused on the biopsychosocial determinants of postoperative pain and problematic opioid use, as well as the Quebec Low Back Pain Biobank Study.
Katherine Scott
Katherine is from Montreal, Quebec and is in her third year of Physiology at McGill University. She joined the Martel Lab in 2018 as a research assistant and is currently involved in a study investigating the determinants of problematic opioid use among patients with chronic pain. Her main responsibilities involve patient recruitment and data collection.
Amanda Sirois
Amanda is from Montreal, Quebec and is pursuing a Bachelors of Science in Nutrition, with a minor in Sports Nutrition. Previously, Amanda has worked with Dr. Anna K. Naumova in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Human Genetics; her work consisted of DNA extraction, PCRs, gel electrophoresis, and DNA methylation analysis. She joined the Martel Lab as a research assistant and is currently involved in recruitment and data collection for studies examining problematic opioid use among patients with chronic pain.
Sabrina Mitrovic
Sabrina is from Montreal, Quebec and is currently an undergraduate student at McGill University. She is completing a bachelor’s degree with a major in Psychology and a double minor in Behavioral Science and Social Studies of Medicine. She is currently working as a research assistant for a study examining the factors associated with pain and problematic opioid use after oral and maxillofacial surgery.
David Habishi
David is from Toronto, Ontario. He is pursuing a Bachelor of Sciences in Physiology and is also minoring in Management. He joined the Martel Lab in 2018 as a Research Assistant, and worked on various projects such as data extraction using electronic medical records, a study examining the links between tobacco use and pain, and a study among patients undergoing oral and maxillofacial surgery.
Connie Colagrosso
Connie is from Montreal, Quebec and is a fourth-year undergraduate student completing a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a double minor in Behavioral Science and Anthropology. She is currently a research assistant working with the Tobacco and Pain Study and is heavily involved with recruitment, quantitative sensory testing, and structured clinical interviews.
Catherine Fournier
Catherine is from Montreal, Quebec. She holds a Bachelors of Arts in Psychology with a double minor in Behavioral Science and Anthropology from McGill University. Catherine joined the Martel Lab in 2016 as a research assistant. She is now Dr. Martel’s research coordinator.
Quinta Seon
Quinta is from Regina, Saskatchewan and is in her final year of a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and minors in Behavioural Science and Russian Language & Culture at McGill. Joining the Martel Lab in 2019 as a research assistant, she is investigating the factors associated with opioid tapering outcomes among patients with chronic pain.
Former Students
Jeremy Goh
Jeremy is from Chilliwack, British Columbia. He holds a Bachelors of Science in Pharmacology from McGill University. He joined the Martel Lab as a graduate student in 2017 and has completed his Masters in Experimental Medicine. His final thesis project focused on the relationship between tobacco smoking and chronic pain based on open access data from the UK Biobank.
