Firdaus Dhabhar
Academic Appointments
- Associate Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Science - Psychosocial
Key Documents
Contact Information
- Academic Offices
Personal Information Email Tel (650) 736-8565Alternate Contact Email Tel Work 650 736 8565
Professional Overview
Administrative Appointments
- Director of Research, Stanford Center on Stress & Health (2006 - present)
Honors and Awards
- Curt Richter Award, for Excellence in Psychoneuroendocrinology, International Society for Psychoneuroendocrinology (2011)
- Young Investigator Award, PsychoNeuroImmunology Research Society (2000)
- Distinguished Dissertation Award - Life Sciences, Council of Graduate Schools (1997)
Professional Education
| Ph.D.: | The Rockefeller University, Biomedical Sciences -- Neuroimmunology (1996) |
| AB: | Dartmouth College, Biological Science (1990) |
| AB: | Dartmouth College, Government (1990) |
Graduate & Fellowship Program Affiliations
Community and International Work
- Institute of Medicine Committee: Interactions Among Social, Behavioral and Genetic Factors In Health, International
- Institute for Laboratory Animal Research Committee: Humane Transport of Laboratory Animals, International
- Scientific Council Member, Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society, International
- Institute of Medicine Committee: Health Effects of Exposures Experienced During The Gulf War (I)., International
Scientific Focus
Current Research Interests
Although stress has a bad reputation, a physiological stress is response is nature's fundamental survival system. We are interested in identifying biological mechanisms that mediate and differentiate the recently appreciated immunoenhancing effects of short-term stress from the long-known immunosuppressive effects of chronic stress. We examine stress effects on leukocyte trafficking, innate/adaptive immunity, and cytokine gene/protein expression using models of skin immunity, vaccination, surgery, and cancer.
By elucidating the mechanisms under investigation we hope to develop behavioral and/or pharmacologic interventions designed to harness a patientÂ’s psycho-physiology to selectively enhance (during vaccination, surgery, infection, or cancer) or suppress (during inflammatory and autoimmune disease) an immune response depending on the clinical needs of the patient.
Clinical Trials
- Not Recruiting Acupuncture for Sleep Disruption in Cancer Survivors
- Not Recruiting Sleep, Circadian Hormonal Dysregulation, and Breast Cancer Survival
Publications
- Psychological stress and immunoprotection versus immunopathology in the skin. Clin Dermatol. 2013 Jan-Feb; (1): 18-30
- High-anxious individuals show increased chronic stress burden, decreased protective immunity, and increased cancer progression in a mouse model of squamous cell carcinoma. PLoS One. 2012; (4): e33069
- Stress-induced redistribution of immune cells--from barracks to boulevards to battlefields: a tale of three hormones--Curt Richter Award winner. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2012; (9): 1345-68
- Healthy young women with serotonin transporter SS Polymorphism show a pro-inflammatory bias under resting & stress conditions Brain, behavior, and Immunity. 2010: 350-357
- Short-term stress enhances cellular immunity and increases early resistance to squamous cell carcinoma. Brain Behav Immun. 2010; (1): 127-37
- Surgery stress induced immune cell redistribution profiles predict short- and long-term postsurgical recovery: A prospective study Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. 2009: 2783-2794
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Trial Administration