Clinical and Research Interests:

• Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine
• Use and development of empirically-supported treatments for physical health conditions, such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
• Assessment measure development
• Effective and appropriate opioid and analgesic use for chronic pain

Science allows a framework for the interpretation of complex phenomena. Good clinical science includes both scientifically adequate clinical work and clinically relevant science – their interaction is bidirectional and mutually beneficial.  

I have devoted a significant portion of my career to the development, implementation, and evaluation of rehabilitative approaches to the treatment of chronic pain – interventions that aid individuals with chronic pain to return to meaningful living even when, or especially when, pain continues. In particular, I have examined the utility of one model of intervention for chronic pain, called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ‘ACT’ (said as one work). My work in chronic pain has contributed significantly to the evidence base in this area and has significantly impacted both practice and policy in relation to the treatment of chronic pain internationally.

My colleagues and I have: (1) shown that ACT for chronic pain is effective and yields clinically significant improvements up to three years following treatment; (2) rigorously examined treatment process information which has provided robust support for treatment mechanisms of pain acceptance, present focused awareness, and engagement in valued activity; and (3) implemented these interventions at the ‘coal face’ of clinics and healthcare systems. This work has taken place in multiple healthcare settings, including the United States (US) Veterans’ Health Administration (VA), United Kingdom’s (UK) National Health Service, and academic and private health centers across the US, Europe, South America, and Australia/New Zealand.

I have successfully either led or been a part of a number of grants funded by various extramural bodies, including the National Institutes of Health, UK Research and Innovation, and the European Parliament. My work has been cited in government policy documents regarding chronic pain, opioids, and interdisciplinary care, including the Departments/Ministries of Health in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Spain, the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal, for example.

As a part of this same work, I have examined issues involving opioid and other substance use in chronic pain to aid in determining the key risk factors involved in (1) substance use becoming harmful, (2) the prevalence rates of harmful use in those with chronic pain, and (3) interventions to aid in the rehabilitation of functioning when chronic pain is co-morbid with harmful use. As of 2024, I am co-leading on a large trial examining the efficacy of an integrated treatment for chronic pain and opioid use disorder, which is funded by the US National Institutes of Health. This seven year trial will conclude in early 2026. I have a variety of other grant funded and non-funded projects underway, primarily involving those with chronic pain.

I am actively involved in clinical work and implementation. For example, as part of my contract with QUB, I spend a day per week working within the NHS where I helped to establish the Belfast Centre for Pain Rehabilitation, which offers interdisciplinary treatment for those experiencing chronic pain. That Centre began the island’s first interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation programme for chronic pain in 2022 and has an active research mission to aid in broadening access to evidence-based care for chronic pain in Northern Ireland and to use appropriate scientific methods to evaluate the evidence of the treatments provided. I was recently awarded grant funding to support a secondment to the Complex Pain Service of Children’s Health Ireland in Dublin, whose team ran the island’s first interdisciplinary paediatric pain rehabilitation program in 2024.

With regard to service, I serve on editorial boards and as an editor for several journals and regularly sit on grant review panels for a number of international funders. More locally, I sit on the Steering Committee of the ‘Better Days’ community pain support programme, which is a community-led initiative offered by members of the Northern Ireland (NI) Healthy Living Centre Alliance. This is a region-wide support programme contracted by the NI Department of Health. Details about their excellent work, and about accessing upcoming programmes can be found here. I am active in several committees within the European Pain Federation, which seeks to increase access to scientifically adequate interventions for chronic pain across Europe and establish clinical care guidelines and standards to aid the field.

My personal website is at: https://kevinvowles.phd.sh/. My CV can be found there, as can details about ACT for chronic pain, including freely available treatment manuals that have been used in various studies, evidenced-based questionnaires, and details on upcoming clinical trainings or other freely available clinical resources.

And here are some of the numbers: As of late 2024, I’ve published 120 or so articles and have been lucky enough to have been invited lots of places to speak about my clinical work and research. My h-index is 34 with over 6000 total citations on the Web of Science and 47 with 13000 total citations on Google Scholar. My Sage Policy Profile (link) has identified 49 government policy documents that have cited my research. In the media, my research has been reported on by Forbes (04/2015), US News and World Report (04/2015), Vox (06/2017), National Public Radio (05/2018), the New York Times (01/2020), and Law360 (06/2021), amongst others. 

Like many in UK academia, I am deeply concerned about the “Research Excellence Framework” (REF). There is reasonable evidence that REF has had either no direct effect on research quality (link) or has had troubling effects, such as more gameplaying (link). There also is unequivocal evidence that REF costs an enormous amount of time and money (link, link). Such an expense for dubious benefit is not scientifically sound.