I’m convinced of the fruitfulness of taking a holistic perspective that acknowledges the tight interrelations between physiological and psychosocial processes involved in the development and maintenance of troublesome conditions such as chronic pain or psychosomatic disorders.

As a postdoctoral research fellow in Prof. Dr. Glombiewski’s Pain & Psychotherapy Research Lab I’m investigating neuro-behavioral mechanisms of placebo and nocebo responses. I also teach statistics and methodology for bachelor's and master's students in psychology.

I did my PhD thesis (March 2018) in the lab of Prof. Dr. Dr. Dr. h. c. Herta Flor (Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience) investigating predisposing and maintaining factors of phantom limb pain following amputation. I hold a Masters’ degree in Biology with a main emphasis on neurobiology and behaviour.

Work experience 

Academic education

Scholarships, certificates & awards

• Starting Fund (4.500 €) for a German Research Foundation (DFG) Grant Application (Project Title: „Interoception as a predictor of placebo hypoalgesia“ (02/2021)
• Teaching award (600 €): University of Koblenz-Landau, Department of Psychology (fall: 2018/2019)
• Travel scholarship (450 €): University of Koblenz-Landau, Campus Landau: participation at the 7th International Conference on Spatial Cognition (09/2018)
• Certificate: „Quantitative Sensory Testing" according to the German Research Network on Neuropathic Pain (DFNS), Department of Neurophysiology, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University (Germany) (02/2016)
• Open Access Publishing Fund (1.200 €) of the University of Heidelberg (05/2015) for the publication: Milde et al. (2015): Do mirror glasses have the same effect on brain activity as a mirror box? Evidence from a functional magnetic resonance imaging study with healthy subjects. PLoS One. 27: 10(5). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone0127697.
• PhD Scholarship of the German Research Foundation (DFG – Collaborative Research Center: 636: „Learning, memory and brain plasticity“) (07/2012)
• Student Scholarship of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes e. V. (10/2008) 

Memberships 

Selected conferences

• European Pain School (2018): „Pain: from Fetus to Old Age”; Siena, Italy (https://eps2018.azuleon.org/)
• 7th International Conference on Spatial Cognition (2018); Rome, Italy (https://www.icsc- rome.org/)
• International Pain Summer School (2016): „Neural Circuits of Pain and their Reorganisation in Chronic Pain”; Prien at the Chiemsee, Germany (presentation and debate) (http://www.internationalpainschool.de/2016.html)
• Marsilius Summer Academy: „Anthropology of Perception”: Natural sciences and humanities in conversation (2005); Heidelberg, Germany (book chapter and presentation)
• German Pain Congress (2015): „Schmerz im Leben – Schmerz (Er)Leben“; Mannheim, Germany (presentation and scientific poster)
• European Pain Congress EFIC (2013): „Pain in Europe VIII“; Florence, Italy (presentation and scientific poster)

Scientific Publications (peer-reviewed)

Exner, C., Kleiman, A., Haberkamp, A., Hansmeier, J., Milde, C., & Glombiewski, J. A. (2024). Metacognitive therapy versus exposure and response prevention for obsessive-compulsive disorder – A non-inferiority randomized controlled trial. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 104, 102873. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2024.102873

Friehs, T., Milde, C., Glombiewski, J. A., & Kube, T. (2024). Change in pain expectations but no open‐label placebo analgesia: An experimental study using the heat pain paradigm. European Journal of Pain, 28(5), 769–785. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejp.2216

Scholten, S., Rubel, J. A., Glombiewski, J. A., & Milde, C. (2024). What time-varying network models based on functional analysis tell us about the course of a patient’s problem. Psychotherapy Research: Journal of the Society for Psychotherapy Research, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2024.2328304

Milde, C., Brinskelle, L. S., & Glombiewski, J. A. (2023). Does active inference provide a comprehensive theory of placebo analgesia? Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2023.08.007

Milde, C., Glombiewski, J. A., Wilhelm, M., & Schemer, L. (2023). Psychological Factors Predict Higher Odds and Impairment of Post-COVID Symptoms: A Prospective Study. Psychosomatic Medicine, 85(6), 479. https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000001214

Friehs, T., Milde, C., Glombiewski, J. A., & Kube, T. (2023). Change in pain expectations but no open‐label placebo analgesia: An experimental study using the heat pain paradigm. European Journal of Pain, 28(5), 769–785. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejp.2216

Schemer, L., Milde, C., Lischetzke, T., in-Albon, T., Karbach, J., Könen, T., & Glombiewski, J. A. (2023). Feeling lonely during the pandemic: Towards personality-tailored risk profiles. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 28(9), 2685–2698. https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2022.2058030

Schemer, L., Milde, C., Lischetzke, T., in-Albon, T., Karbach, J., Könen, T., & Glombiewski, J. A. (2022). Feeling lonely during the pandemic: Towards personality-tailored risk profiles. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2022.2058030

Fuchs, X., Diers, M., Trojan, J., Kirsch, P., Milde, C., Bekrater-Bodmann, R., Rance, M., Foell, J., Andoh, J., Becker, S., & Flor, H. (2022). Phantom limb pain after unilateral arm amputation is associated with decreased heat pain thresholds in the face. European Journal of Pain, 26(1), 114–132. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejp.1842

Thøgersen, M., Andoh, J., Milde, C., Graven-Nielsen, T., Flor, H., & Petrini, L. (2020). Individualized augmented reality training reduces phantom pain and cortical reorganization in amputees: A proof of concept study. The Journal of Pain.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2020.06.002

Andoh, J., Milde, C., Diers, M., Bekrater-Bodmann, R., Trojan, J., Fuchs, X., Becker, S., Desch, S., & Flor, H. (2020). Assessment of cortical reorganization and preserved function in phantom limb pain: A methodological perspective. Scientific Reports, 10(1), 11504. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-68206-9

Liu, H., Andoh, J., Lyu, Y., Milde, C., Desch, S., Zidda, F., Schmelz, M., Curio, G., & Flor, H. (2020). Peripheral input and phantom limb pain: A somatosensory event-related potential study. European Journal of Pain, n/a(n/a). https://doi.org/10.1002/ejp.1579

Andoh, J., Milde, C., Tsao, J. W., & Flor, H. (2018). Cortical plasticity as a basis of phantom limb pain: Fact or fiction? Neuroscience, 387, 85–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2017.11.015

Andoh, J., Diers, M., Milde, C., Frobel, C., Kleinböhl, D., & Flor, H. (2017). Neural correlates of evoked phantom limb sensations. Biological Psychology, 126, 89–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2017.04.009

Andoh, J., Diers, M., Milde, C., Frobel, C., Kleinböhl, D., & Flor, H. (2017). Neural correlates of evoked phantom limb sensations. Biological Psychology, 126, 89–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2017.04.009

Milde, C., Rance, M., Kirsch, P., Trojan, J., Fuchs, X., Foell, J., Bekrater-Bodmann, R., Flor, H., & Diers, M. (2015). Do Mirror Glasses Have the Same Effect on Brain Activity as a Mirror Box? Evidence from a Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study with Healthy Subjects. PLOS ONE, 10(5), e0127694. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0127694

Li, S., Weerda, R., Milde, C., Wolf, O. T., & Thiel, C. M. (2015). ADRA2B genotype differentially modulates stress-induced neural activity in the amygdala and hippocampus during emotional memory retrieval. Psychopharmacology, 232(4), 755–764. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-014-3710-3

Li, S., Weerda, R., Milde, C., Wolf, O. T., & Thiel, C. M. (2014). Effects of acute psychosocial stress on neural activity to emotional and neutral faces in a face recognition memory paradigm. Brain Imaging and Behavior, 8(4), 598–610. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682- 013-9287-3

Book Chapters

Diers, M., & Milde, C. (2017). Neuroimaging of chronic pain. In Saba, L. (Ed.) Neuroimaging of Pain (pp. 171-214). New York, USA. Springer Business & Science Media.

Milde, C., & Schneider, P. (2017). Das Potenzial empirischer Befunde zur aberranten Körperwahrnehmungen und -kognitionen für die philosophische Theorienbildung. In Schlette, M., Fuchs, T., & Kirchner A. M. (Eds.). Anthropologie der Wahrnehmung (Vol. 16, pp. 423-452). Heidelberg, Germany. Universitätsverlag Winter.

• Psychobiology of Chronic Pain
• Psychopharmacology & Placebomechanisms
• Statistics & Machine Learning
• Peripheral Physiology