University of Alabama at Birmingham · PsychologySorge Pain Lab
Robert Sorge · Birmingham, Alabama
Research Focus
Dr. Robert Sorge's lab at the University of Alabama at Birmingham focuses on understanding how diet can help relieve pain in people suffering from knee osteoarthritis. The lab investigates the effects of different dietary interventions, especially low-carbohydrate diets, on pain and quality of life. By exploring the relationship between diet, inflammation, and mental health, the lab aims to find alternative treatments for chronic pain that are safe and effective.
knee osteoarthritispain managementdietary interventionchronic painlow-carbohydrate dietsquality of lifeinflammationpsychosocial factors
Research Aims
5AIM 01Evaluate the effectiveness of low-carbohydrate diets on pain reduction in knee osteoarthritis patients.
AIM 02Examine the impact of dietary interventions on quality of life for chronic pain sufferers.
AIM 03Assess the role of individual metabolic differences in response to diet interventions.
AIM 04Explore the psychosocial factors that affect diet adherence and pain perception.
AIM 05Investigate the physiological changes associated with dietary interventions in knee OA.
Skills the Lab Values
dietary assessmentpain measurement techniquesblood samplingDXA scans (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry)statistical analysispsychosocial survey administrationclinical trial protocolsdata collection and management
Output against the department
Publications140bottom 47% of dept.158th of 296
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations9.7ktop 28% of dept.84th of 296
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.