Fenan Rassu, PhD

Licensed Clinical Psychologist • Assistant Professor
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

My name is Fenan Rassu, Ph.D. (pronounced: fun-ANN Rah-soo). I'm a licensed clinical psychologist and assistant professor in the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Clinically, I work with adults living with disability due to injury or illness, including chronic pain.

My research asks what happens between identifying that a patient could benefit from evidence-based pain or rehabilitation care and that patient actually receiving enough of it to benefit.

As Co-Director of the Hopkins Pain & Rehabilitation Lab, I study where that care pathway breaks down and what can be done about it. Sometimes the challenge is recognizing or connecting a patient with the right treatment. Sometimes a referral stalls, care is difficult to access, a treatment does not feel workable to the patient, or useful clinical information is collected but never becomes part of the decision. My work examines how patients, clinicians, communities, and health systems shape those transitions, and how we can make evidence-based care easier to reach, use, and sustain.