Spotlight on Women’s Brain Health: Why Women Experience Pain and Addiction Differently
Featuring the research programs of Jenny Wilkerson and Anna Konova at Rutgers
As part of the Rutgers Brain Health Institute’s Women’s Brain Health Initiative (RWBHI), we are excited to spotlight two BHI faculty members whose complementary research programs are advancing our understanding of pain and addiction, conditions that disproportionately affect women.
Understanding the Biology to Develop Novel Pain Therapeutics for Women
Dr. Jenny Wilkerson, Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, integrates behavioral neuroscience and pharmacological methods in her research to advance drug development for pathological pain and substance use disorders, focusing on biological differences between males and females.
Understanding how hormones influence addiction in women
Dr. Anna Konova, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and co-Director of the Center for Computational Cognitive Neuropsychiatry in BHI, leads the Addiction & Decision Neuroscience Laboratory. A cognitive neuroscientist by training, Dr. Konova has built a research program focused on the computational and neural basis of motivation, decision-making, and addiction. Her lab uses advanced neuroimaging, computational modeling, and real-world behavioral assessments to identify risk and resilience factors in addiction escalation, recovery, and treatment.
Together, Drs. Wilkerson and Konova — along with their talented trainees are creating a powerful translational pipeline. Dr. Wilkerson’s preclinical animal models provide deep mechanistic insights into sex differences, neuroinflammation, hormones, and the endocannabinoid system in pain and addiction-related pathways. Dr. Konova’s lab translates these themes into human studies, using innovative precision methods to map how ovarian hormones dynamically shape dopamine computations, decision-making, and opioid risk in women. Together, these Rutgers researchers are leading the effort to address why women experience pain and addiction differently and how to develop more personalized and effective treatments.
As Dr. Wilkerson powerfully reminds us, “You really have to be your own best advocate, and sometimes that includes paying attention to the signals that your body is trying to tell you, especially as you move through life stages. So many times, we get busy, and we brush aside the signals that our body sends us to try to tell us something is not right. We tell ourselves that it’s all in our head, that we just need to push through, that something is just a part of aging, or we allow our symptoms to be dismissed. We are uncovering that many diseases, including pain-related and inflammatory diseases that women are more prone to develop, often ‘look’ different symptom-wise in women compared to men. So, taking some time to really listen to yourself, to honor what your body is telling you, and to make sure that you get the care you need is critical. “
The research in the Wilkerson’s and Konova labs at Rutgers exemplifies the innovative, sex-specific research that the Rutgers Women’s Brain Health Initiative (RWBHI) aims to highlight. Through this spotlight series, the RWBHI seeks to raise public awareness and increase visibility of research advancing women’s brain health across the lifespan.
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Support the Rutgers Women’s Brain Health Initiative
The Rutgers Women’s Brain Health Initiative (RWBHI) is dedicated to addressing the knowledge gap in women’s brain health by showcasing research on brain health problems that prominently affect women. We aim to deliver clear, trustworthy, and research-vetted actionable information that will directly benefit women and their families.
