Researchers

My research focuses on understanding how and why stress and anxiety (i.e., worry, fear, panic) commonly co-occur with and contribute to problematic health behaviors and chronic disease. The REHAB Laboratory utilizes an experimental therapeutics approach to (a) identify fearful thoughts and reactions to stress/anxiety (“cognitive and emotional risk factors”) that contribute to health behaviors and physical disease, (b) isolate how these risk factors influence health behaviors “in real time” through use of laboratory methodologies, and in turn (c) develop tailored interventions that target these risk factors to promote health behavior change and prevent the onset or progression of chronic disease.