Elissa Epel, PhD
Neuroscience Psychologist
Elissa Epel is an Associate Professor at UCSF. She is a psychology researcher who investigates the depths and intricacies of the mind-body connection. She has helped ANGEL AID create Sensory Solutions for Self-Care: Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction workshop and discussion Series. With her colleague Elizabeth Blackburn (Nobel Laureate, 2009) and team of collaborators, she has found that chronic psychological stress wears down the telomeres, the protective tips of chromosomes, around a decade earlier than expected. Check out her book The Telomere Effect. How we live, our everyday lifestyle choices are related to telomeres, and telomeres in turn predict early disease and death. She was awarded the Psychological Association Early Career Award.