Rita Canaipa

Rita Canaipa is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Health Sciences and Nursing at the Portuguese Catholic University and a researcher at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Health (CIIS). She holds a PhD in Biomedical Sciences with a specialization in Neurosciences and a master's degree in Human Development from the University of Lisbon, where she also earned her degree in Psychology.

Her educational background includes:

• PhD in Biomedical Sciences (Social Distress And Pain Modulation), University of Lisbon (2016)
• Master in Human Development, University of Lisbon (2006)
• Licenciatura in Psychology, University of Lisbon (2001)

Rita Canaipa's research primarily focuses on pain neuroscience, exploring the complex relationships between pain, cognition, emotions, and interoception. With extensive clinical experience in Fibromyalgia, she studies pain variability, cognitive functioning, social distress in pain reports, and pain response across diverse populations including dancers. Her work aims to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of pain perception and modulation to translate knowledge to community and healthcare professionals, contributing to personalized clinical care and reducing patients' pain and suffering.

Her recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on fibromyalgia, placebo effects, and pain modulation. These works explore intricate relationships between cognitive processes and pain perception, with particular attention to interoception, social factors influencing pain reports, and the reliability of pain measurement tools.

Her scientific contributions include:

• Research on interoception and cognitive functioning in fibromyalgia
• Studies on placebo effects and pain modulation mechanisms
• Investigations into pain variability and measurement reliability
• Examinations of the relationship between body perception and pain intensity
• Analysis of social distress factors in pain reports

Rita Canaipa actively supervises students and has been involved in significant research projects, including 'The Bayesian Brain Hypothesis and the pain perception in migraine' (2022-2023) where she served as Principal Investigator, and the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Health (CIIS) project (2020-2024). Her work contributes to Sustainable Development Goals related to health and wellbeing, with an h-index of 42 reflecting substantial scholarly impact in her field.