Dr. Steve Cole: Exploring the Immunology of Well-Being

It’s common knowledge that stress can make you sick. But why? It’s also becoming increasingly understood that it is the body’s own inflammatory system that is responsible for most COVID deaths. Why does the immune system get so confused?

If these questions seem interesting but unrelated, this is the podcast for you. Our guest is Steve Cole, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and hero to many of us working in the field of mind-body medicine. Dr. Cole is famous for his work using the expression of genes to examine how stress impacts our immune system to produce mental and physical illness. In recent years he has revolutionized the field by providing the most cogent evolutionary arguments yet advanced for why stress seems to be so bad for us, and conversely, why loving relationships and altruistic mindsets are so beneficial for health. And before the podcast is done we explore how COVID can trick the immune system in ways that look eerily similar to the effects of loneliness. Join us as Dr. Cole explains these fascinating and timely connections.

Featuring:

Dr. Steve Cole, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine

Host:

Charles Raison, Psychiatrist, Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Emory University

About Emory University's Center for the Study of Human Health:

The Emory Center for the Study of Human Health was developed to expand health knowledge and translate this knowledge to all aspects of life – for the individual and populations as a whole. The Center assembles the extraordinary faculty, researchers and thought leaders from across disciplines, departments, schools and institutions to bring this knowledge to Emory University students and inspire them to become leaders for the next generation in meeting challenges facing human health.

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