Rate My Professor Pernilla Åsenlöf

Åsenlöf leads the Physiotherapy and Behavioural Medicine research group as principal investigator since 2007 and serves as scientific leader for the interdisciplinary UPIC initiative on young people’s mental health. Her research focuses on behavioral medicine and physiotherapy, including tailored behavioral treatments, exercise-based interventions, chronic pain rehabilitation, physical activity in sleep apnea, obesity, whiplash-associated disorders, and psychosocial factors in pain management. She has produced 70 original scientific publications (h-index 20, Web of Science), with key contributions such as “Individually Tailored Treatment Targeting Activity, Motor Behavior, and Fear-Avoidance Beliefs in Patients with Persistent Musculoskeletal Pain” (2005, The Journal of Pain), “A further investigation of the importance of pain cognition and behaviour in pain rehabilitation” (2010, Clinical Rehabilitation), and recent works on opioid use and prescription opioid use disorder (2025, European Journal of Pain) and pain in motor neuron disease (2024). Her influence is evident in primary care pain management advancements. Awards include the Thuréus Prize in Medicine (2017, Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala), Young Investigator of the Year (2009, Department of Neuroscience), and Best Abstract/Oral Presentation (2002, Health Care Sciences of Tomorrow). She chairs boards for the Centre for Research and Bioethics and Centre for Disability Research, and is a member of the Swedish Agency for Health Technology Assessment’s Scientific Council.