|
Suzanne C. Segerstrom, Ph.D.
Dr. Suzanne C. Segerstrom is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. She received her bachelor's degree with majors in both Psychology and Music from Lewis and Clark College. After a soul-searching semester in France, she decided to pursue psychology. She received her graduate education at the University of California, Los Angeles, obtaining her master's degree and doctorate in Clinical Psychology.
Dr. Segerstrom's research focuses on psychosocial influences on human immunity, particularly the interaction between environmental stressors and personality characteristics. With funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the Norman Cousins Program in Psychoneuroimmunology, she has investigated the role of positive outcome expectancies - optimism - in moderating the effect of academic stress on cellular immunity. This work, which continues with the help of NIMH, won the Martin E.P. Seligman Award for Outstanding Dissertation Research. In a second line of research, her work linking worry to immune dysregulation during stressors has been expanded to include other processing styles and continues in studies with students as well as older adults. The Norman Cousins Program, the Dana Foundation, and the Templeton Foundation have funded this work.
Dr. Segerstrom is eligible for tenure later this year and has no free time. If she did, she would probably spend it reading novels, riding horses, or playing with her spaniels, Chester and Lulu.
March 2002
|
