Lynn S. Walker, Ph.D., is Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Division of Adolescent Medicine and Behavioral Science in the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. She has a secondary appointment in the Department of Psychology and Human Development where she is a faculty member in the clinical psychology training program. Dr. Walker's research aims to understand biopsychosocial processes in the development of chronic pain, with a particular focus on functional syndromes such as irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia. She directs a multidisciplinary research laboratory with a team that includes graduate and undergraduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty colleagues.
Dr. Walker's research has been funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Development since 1987 (R01 HD23267). Current studies include investigations of:
- Autonomic reactivity to laboratory stress in children with chronic pain
- Childhood risk and protective factors for the development of chronic pain
- Health outcomes in adults with a childhood history of chronic pain
Dr. Walker completed her undergraduate studies at Oberlin College and her graduate studies at Vanderbilt University. She did an internship in clinical psychology at the Neuropsychiatric Institute of the University of California at Los Angeles and subsequently was awarded an NIH National Research Service Award Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship to study child and family adjustment in children with chronic illness. Dr. Walker joined the faculty in the Department of Pediatrics at Vanderbilt in 1985 and was promoted to Professor, with tenure, in 1999. She has served as Director of the Division of Adolescent Medicine and Behavioral Science since 2002. In addition to her research, teaching, and administrative duties, Dr. Walker provides behavioral health services to pediatric patients with chronic pain.
Learn more about the Walker Lab below.
