Irene Tracey

Research

Tracey's research centres on investigating what she calls "the cerebral signature for pain perception" − how key regions of the human brain give rise to pain − and on developing objective, reliable, scientific ways of measuring what has always been considered a highly subjective experience. and how religious beliefs can affect and alleviate pain. Her objective is to improve the understanding of chronic pain, its diagnosis, and treatment, partly through the development of more effective drugs. In 2015 she was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) and in 2017 won the Feldberg Foundation prize, followed in 2018 by the British Neuroscience Association’s Outstanding Contribution to Neuroscience award.

In 2020, Tracey was elected a Member of the Academia Europaea (MAE), and in 2022 she was elected an honorary fellow of The Physiological Society.

Tracey was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in the 2022 New Year Honours List for services to medical research. She received her CBE insignia from Charles III at Windsor Castle on 16 November 2022 during the first Investiture held by His Majesty following his Accession. In 2023 she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS).

Publications Tracey has published over 200 original papers; Semantic Scholar lists her as a contributor to over 400 publications including the following publications:

Pain 2012 Refresher Courses: 14th World Congress on Pain Pain: A Ladybird Expert Book Wall & Melzack's Textbook of Pain: Expert Consult Dissociating Pain from Its Anticipation in the Human Brain Exacerbation of Pain by Anxiety Is Associated with Activity in a Hippocampal Network Imaging how attention modulates pain in humans using functional MRI The Cerebral Signature for Pain Perception and Its Modulation A common neurobiology for pain and pleasure Neurocognitive aspects of pain perception

Public engagement As part of her work to improve public understanding of science, Tracey has made media appearances, including on BBC Radio 4's All in the Mind.

She has created and presented two radio programmes about pain: From Agony to Analgesia, a two-episode BBC programme in 2017, and The Anatomy of Pain, a four-part, BBC Discovery series in 2018.

Tracey's work on pain has also featured in two BBC Horizon TV documentaries; a Science Museum exhibition in London; public lectures at DANA, the Oxford Museum of Natural History, and the Cheltenham Science Festival; and articles in New Scientist, BBC Science Focus, and Good Housekeeping.

The Lancet and The New Yorker have both run profiles of her. She was also listed in The Times’ Life Sciences Global Power List in 2020.

Tracey presented a posthumous MPhil Anthropology degree certificate for Māori scholar Mākereti Papakura to the latter's descendant June Northcroft Grant at the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford on 27 September 2025, saying it was “an honour to finally recognise Papakura’s influence as a scholar”.

Personal life Tracey married the climate physicist Myles Allen in 1994 and has three children.