Health Psychology Faculty
The following faculty are accepting new students for the 2026-2027 academic year: Julienne Bower (secondary mentor), Janet Tomiyama, Jennifer Sumner, Ted Robles, and Patrick Wilson.
Julienne Bower
Chair of Health Psychology and Professor
jbower@ucla.edu
Professor Bower’s research focuses broadly on mind-body interactions among individuals confronting stressful life events, particularly diagnosis with life-threatening illnesses such as cancer. She is particularly interested in the interactions among psychological and behavioral states, the brain, and the immune system and their effects on mental and physical health, as well as interventions targeting these systems to improve health and well-being.
Theodore Robles
Professor
robles@psych.ucla.edu
Professor Robles’s research involves understanding how stress and social relationships influence health, with a focus on allostatic biological processes, which help individuals achieve physiological stability during stressful events; and restorative biological processes, which aid the individual in recovering after stressful events.
Jennifer Sumner
Associate Professor
jsumner@psych.ucla.edu
Professor Sumner‘s program of research lies at the intersection of the psychological and physical health consequences of trauma exposure. Her work examines the psychological and biological mechanisms linking trauma and severe stress with accelerated aging and risk for chronic disease, particularly cardiovascular disease.
A. Janet Tomiyama
Professor
tomiyama@psych.ucla.edu
Professor Tomiyama studies the intersection between eating behavior and stress. Her research examines the potentially negative psychological and biological consequences of weight stigma and dieting, as well as the efficacy of comfort eating. She also examines how to encourage plant-based diets and adoption of novel food products.
Patrick Wilson
Professor
patrickawilson@ucla.edu
Professor Wilson is a community and health psychologist interested in how psychological, social, and cultural factors shape individual- and community-level health outcomes. Broad areas of interest include sexual health, substance use, and mental health and on health promotion interventions targeted toward racial/ethnic and sexual minority, youth and young adult, and vulnerable populations.
Emeritus Faculty
Chris Dunkel Schetter
Distinguished Research Professor Emerita
dunkel@psych.ucla.edu
Annette Stanton
Distinguished Research Professor Emerita
astanton@ucla.edu
Shelley Taylor
Distinguished Research Professor Emerita
taylors@psych.ucla.edu