Irene Mary Carmel TraceyCBEFRSFMedSciMAEFRCA (born 30 October 1966)[1] is Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford and former Warden of Merton College, Oxford.[4][5] She is also Professor of Anaesthetic Neuroscience in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences and formerly Pro-Vice-Chancellor (without portfolio) at the University of Oxford.[6] She is a co-founder of the Oxford Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain (FMRIB), now the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging.[7] Her team’s research is focused on the neuroscience of pain, specifically pain perception and analgesia as well as how anaesthetics produce altered states of consciousness. Her team uses multidisciplinary approaches including neuroimaging.[2][8][9]
As an early career researcher, Tracey held a postdoctoral position at Harvard Medical School, working at the MGH-NMR imaging centre (now Martinos) applying magnetic spectroscopy techniques to understand AIDS Dementia Complex.[16] During this period she became interested in pain, the research field she would eventually focus on. Tracey returned to Oxford in 1997, where she helped to found the Oxford Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain (FMRIB), later renamed the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging; she served as its Director from 2005 until 2015.[17] She was appointed university lecturer in 2001 at the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics; during this time, she was also a tutor in medicine and Fellow of Christ Church.[18] Between 2007 and 2019, Tracey was Nuffield Chair in Anaesthetic Sciences and a Fellow of Pembroke College, where she is now an Honorary Fellow.[19] In October 2016, she became Head of the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences.[14]
In October 2017, Tracey was announced as the next Warden of Merton College, in succession to Sir Martin Taylor.[20] She was installed as Warden on 5 October 2019, becoming the college’s 51st warden.[21]
On 9 May 2022, it was announced that Tracey would be the next Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, with effect from 2023, in succession to Louise Richardson.[22] In her first oration as vice-chancellor in October 2023, Tracey addressed the controversy surrounding a university-backed appearance by Kathleen Stock, a gender-critical feminist which attracted protests. She defended free speech but was saddened by the attacks and abuse heaped at the university's transgender community during her first year.[23] In 2024, Tracey became involved in responding to the occupation of Oxford University campus by pro-Palestinian protesters.[24] In May of that year, a group of pro-Palestinian student protestors staged a demonstration in Tracey's office while she was there which led to their arrest.[25][26]
Tracey's research centers 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.[10][29] In particular, Tracey and her colleagues have used fMRI brain scanning techniques to discover the various neural sites and mechanisms that underlie pain, to distinguish between the experience of pain and the anticipation of that experience, and to explore differences in how people experience the same pain in different ways at different times.[10] Her team has also investigated how pain-relief treatments can produce altered states of consciousness[30] and how religious beliefs can affect and alleviate pain.[10] One key finding is that pain is complex and cognitive, and, in Tracey’s words, "sensitive to various mental processes such as the feelings and beliefs that someone has", so it doesn't arise exclusively from a single painful input, such as a pinprick or burn.[31] Her objective is to improve the understanding of chronic pain, its diagnosis, and treatment, partly through the development of more effective drugs.[10][14]
Tracey has published over 200 original papers;[2][9]Semantic Scholar lists her as a contributor to over 400 publications[41] including the following publications:
Pain 2012 Refresher Courses: 14th World Congress on Pain[42]
Multidisciplinary research priorities for the COVID-19 pandemic: a call for action for mental health science[49]
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.[50]
She has created and presented two radio programmes about pain: From Agony to Analgesia, a two-episode BBC programme in 2017,[51] and The Anatomy of Pain, a four-part, BBC Discovery series in 2018.[52]
^Tracey, MA Irene (13 July 2017). "13 Advanced neuroimaging of pain, analgesia and anaesthesia induced altered states of consciousness". Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry. 88 (8): A7.1–A7. doi:10.1136/jnnp-2017-BNPA.13. eISSN1468-330X. ISSN0022-3050. S2CID148625006.
^Stephen McMahon; Martin Koltzenburg; Irene Tracey; Dennis C. Turk (21 June 2013). Wall & Melzack's Textbook of Pain: Expert Consult. Elsevier Health Sciences. ISBN978-0-7020-4059-7.
^Susanna J Bantick; Richard G Wise; Alexander Ploghaus; Stuart Clare; Stephen M Smith; Irene Tracey (1 February 2002). "Imaging how attention modulates pain in humans using functional MRI". Brain. 125 (Pt 2): 310–319. doi:10.1093/BRAIN/AWF022. ISSN0006-8950. PMID11844731. WikidataQ54748124.
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