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 after evidence-based pain and rehabilitation care is recommended, and what helps patients receive enough of it to benefit.
As Co-Director of the Hopkins Pain & Rehabilitation Lab, I study where that process breaks down and what can be done about it. Sometimes the barrier is limited care nearby. Sometimes a referral stalls, a treatment does not feel workable to the patient, or useful clinical information is collected but never becomes part of the decision.
Recent Updates
August 5, 2026
Mahi Shah and Spoorthy Reddy Present at the Hopkins Summer Research Symposium
Undergraduate research assistants Mahi Shah and Spoorthy Reddy presented at the Johns Hopkins Summer Research Symposium. Their poster described the development and cognitive pretesting of a discrete choice experiment designed to measure treatment preferences among adults living with chronic pain.
July 29, 2026
Summer Lab Hangout at Ministry of Brewing
We gathered for a summer lab hangout at Ministry of Brewing to share some pizza and enjoy each other's company outside the usual meetings and deadlines. It was also a chance to send off our postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Kristen Pasko, with gratitude for all she has brought to the lab.
May 8, 2026
Ruomu Dong Presents at UCLA PURC
Undergraduate research assistant Ruomu Dong traveled to UCLA to present her poster on pain distribution and psychological distress at the UCLA Psychology Undergraduate Research Conference.