The International Society of Behavioral Medicine recently presented its Lifetime Achievement Award to Julian F. Thayer, distinguished professor of psychology at the University of California, Irvine.
For nearly four decades, Dr. Thayer has made groundbreaking discoveries into how stress and emotions impact the heart-brain connection. He is known for developing the Neurovisceral Integration Model, which connects heart rate variability to flexible cognition, emotion regulation, and mental health. He has also conducted extensive research on how systemic racism and discrimination lead to health disparities in African Americans, who have the highest rates of hypertension-related disease of any ethnic group in the United States.
At the University of California, Irvine, Dr. Thayer is affiliated with the School of Social Ecology and the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning & Memory. He has held teaching and research positions with several other institutions throughout his career, including Pennsylvania State University, the University of Missouri, the National Institutes of Health, and Ohio State University.
Dr. Thayer earned his master’s degree and Ph.D. in psychophysiology from New York University.
