My research has focused primarily on the causes, development and prognosis of painful common spinal disorders, such as lumbar spinal stenosis and nonspecific low back pain. My research group takes an interdisciplinary approach to conducting research ranging from population health (e.g. constitutional, behavioral and environmental factors influencing back pain and related disability in the general population) to basic science (e.g. identifying gene variants associated with disc degeneration and spinal stenosis).