Welcome to UCSF Health Psychology

Health Psychology is the scientific field that applies psychological theory and methods to the study of the promotion and maintenance of health and the prevention and treatment of illness.

The University of California, San Francisco initiated one of the first graduate programs in Health Psychology in 1977. Since that time, UCSF has had either a predoctoral or postdoctoral training program in Health Psychology. UCSF has a large number of faculty actively involved in Health Psychology research.

Postdoctoral Training in Health Psychology
UCSF has had a postdoctoral training program entitled, "Psychology and Medicine: Translational Research on Stress, Behavior and Disease" (formerly "Psychology and Medicine: An Integrative Research Approach") since 1983.

Application period
The application period for candidates starting in Fall 2022 is now closed. We will resume accepting applications sometime in December 2023 for candidates starting in Fall 2024. Please check back with us in late November or early December for specific dates for the start and end of the application period. Underrepresented minorities are encouraged to apply.

Research Opportunities
Health Psychology faculty members are actively involved in diverse areas of research. We welcome qualified individuals at undergraduate and graduate level to work in our labs. Research assistants have the opportunity to gain valuable experience in research design, methodology, data collection, research participant interaction, data analysis, and the scholarly dissemination of research results.

Please note, we do not offer undergraduate or graduate degrees in Health Psychology.

If you are interested in participating as a research assistant to one or more of our faculty, please email [email protected], and your message will be forwarded to our project/lab managers who will contact you shortly thereafter.

UCSF Health Psychology News

Nicole Bush, PhD, Amanda Noroña-Zhou, PhD, and other CHC co-authors publish study in Psychosomatic Medicine showing that Prenatal Mindfulness Program improves stress response in infants

Nicole Bush, PhD, Amanda Noroña-Zhou, PhD, Elissa Epel, PhD, (pictured above L to R) and other CHC co-authors have published, in Psychosomatic Medicine, the first known study to show that infants whose mothers participated in a mindfulness-based intervention program during pregnancy had healthier stress responses at 6 months of age. The study follows one from 2019 showing the same mindfulness intervention reduced stress and depression in mothers, as well as improved their glucose tolerance and physical activity levels. Link to read the full UCSF news story.

Wendy Berry Mendes, PhD is selected new Deputy Vice Chair for Research at LPPI/Pritzker Building

In her new position, Dr. Mendes will provide oversight and representation for the researchers at LPPI/PB and facilitate research-related communication for this group. She will work closely with the other Deputy Vice Chairs for Research to facilitate collaboration across our geographical sites and across the basic science-clinical/translational divide, to develop and implement standard procedures and guidelines for our research enterprise, and to develop new initiatives and programs to advance the department’s research mission.

All of us at DPBS join in congratulating Dr. Mendes on her new appointment, and we are all thrilled to have her on our research team.

NAM Health Longevity Catalyst awarded to DPBS faculty Elissa Epel, Wendy Mendes, and Aric Prather

Elissa Epel, Wendy Berry Mendes, Aric Prather

The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) has awarded the Healthy Longetivity Catalyst Award to a trio of Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (DPBS) faculty members Elissa Epel, PhD, Wendy Berry Mendes, PhD, and Aric Prather, PhD for their Healthy Longetivity Global Competition project. Their project focuses on testing the potency of hormetic stress to reduce depression and slow biological aging. For the full story on DPBS website, please visit https://psychiatry.ucsf.edu/news/project-led-trio-dpbs-researchers-receives-healthy-longevity-catalyst-award

Wendy Berry Mendes recipient of 2020 SESP Career Trajectory Award

Nancy Adler recipient of 2020 IAPHS J. Michael Ginnis Leadership Excellence Award

The Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science (IAPHS) has awarded Nancy Adler, PhD, its 2020 J. Michael McGinnis Leadership Excellence Award. She is the second recipient of the award, which was established last year to honor individuals who have made significant leadership contributions to improving population health and equity through research translation, health policy, or academic research. Link to full news story.

Aric Prather, PhD explains in Wired magazine latest Five Levels video: "The science is extremely clear - you need to prioritize sleep."

Elissa Epel appointed Vice-Chair for Adult Psychology

Nicki Bush awarded Chancellor Award for the advancement of women

Nancy Adler chosen to serve as member of Wise Head Panel for 100&Change program

Nancy Adler, PhD has been selected to serve as a member of the Wise Head Panel for the 100&Change program of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. This is a competition for a single $100 million grant to support an idea that makes measureable progress toward solving a critical problem affecting people, places, or the planet. Applications may address any problem and the “Wise Heads” come from a wide range of backgrounds and expertise. Dr. Adler is Director of the CHC and Professor of Psychology in the departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics.

Aric Prather, PhD, awarded 2019 Excellence in Health Psychology Research award

Aric Prather, PhD has been awarded the 2019 Excellence in Health Psychology Research by an Early Career Professional Award by the Society for Health Psychology The award will be presented on Saturday, August 10, at the Society’s Awards Ceremony, held in conjunction with the 2019 American Psychological Association convention in Chicago. Dr. Prather is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Associate Director of the CHC.

Nancy Adler included on Clarivate Analytics 2018 Highly Cited Researchers List

Nancy Adler has been named one of seven faculty members in the UCSF Department of Psychiatry who have been acknowledged for the high impact of their research work with inclusion on the 2018 Highly Cited Researchers List. This highly prestigious honor recognizes scientists who have demonstrated significant influence through the publication of multiple highly cited papers over the last decade. For full article, please follow link to article on the UCSF Department of Psychiatry website: https://psych.ucsf.edu/news/ucsf-psychiatry-researchers-named-among-most-highly-cited-world.

Nancy Adler awarded NYAM Academy Medal

The New York Academy of Medicine has awarded the Academy Medal for Distinguished Contributions in Biomedical Science to Dr. Nancy Adler for her pioneering work on health behavior decision-making and social determinants of health. Prior awardees from UCSF are Harold Varmus and Elizabeth Blackburn. The award was presented at the Academy on November 2 in New York.

The full press release is available at the Academy’s website: http://www.nyam.org/news/article/academy-announces-2017-awards/

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Associate Professor Nicki Bush and colleagues have their studies highlighted in UCSF News story

Dr. NIcki Bush and Dr. Alicia Lieberman have joined forces in the CTRP-Health study at the UCSF Child Trauma Research Program (CTRP) to examine the biological systems implicated in traumatic stress and their response to Lieberman’s child-parent interventions. In mothers and their children, Bush and colleagues are searching for biological markers of adversity in the telomeres at the ends of chromosomes, the immune system and other physiological stress response systems. You can read the story, "Undoing the Harm on Childhood Trauma and Adversity" on the UCSF News Center website.

UCSF Health Psychology News Archives
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UCSF Health Psychology News