Stephen Coombes, Ph.D.

Professor; Graduate Coordinator
Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology

  • Ph.D. in Motor Control, University of Florida (2006)
  • M.S. in Motor Control, University of Florida (2002)
  • B.S. in Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University (1998)

Coombes CV
Laboratory for Rehabilitation Neuroscience

Contact Info

FLG 170H
P.O. Box 118205
Gainesville, FL 32611-8205
(352) 294-1768 | scoombes@ufl.edu


Biography

Dr. Stephen Coombes co-founded the Laboratory for Rehabilitation Neuroscience (http://lrnlab.org/) at the University of Florida in 2011. His research focuses on brain structure and brain function in human models of neurodegeneration and other disorders that affect the sensorimotor system. His research group has been at the cutting-edge of developing novel neuroimaging paradigms to study pain physiology, motor systems physiology, and diffusion MRI analysis approaches for understanding brain microstructure in disease. Dr. Coombes’ body of work is documented in 81 peer-reviewed publications in journals that include PAIN, Cerebral Cortex, Neurology, Lancet, Human Brain Mapping, Journal of Pain, Journal of Physiology, and Neuroimage. As PI, his laboratory has two active NIH R01 grants in the areas of chronic pain and Alzheimer’s Disease. He is also co-I on 3 R01s that use his motor and pain paradigms to understand brain function in shoulder pain, stroke, and autism. He is a Co-I and member of the 1FLORIDA Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Biomarker Core, co-mentor on a K23, and mentor on an NIH-T32 award in pain and aging.

Research Interests

Dr. Stephen Coombes’ research focuses on the integration between motor, pain, and emotional processes. He also examines brain structure and function in human models of neurodegeneration and other disorders that affect the sensorimotor system.