Janet Tomiyama is an associate professor of psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and director of the DiSH (Dieting, Stress and Health) Lab. She researches eating behavior, psychological stress, and cellular aging with focus on macro factors like socioeconomic status and micro factors like telomere shortening (a biomarker of age).

Tomiyama’s expertise also lies in dieting and the potential negative psychological and biological consequences. Her work tests questions such as: Is “comfort food” really comforting? Is dieting stressful? Does stress age our immune system and, if so, how? Can calorie restriction reverse this type of aging? Who are our society’s most successful dieters, and what can we learn from them? Is stress to blame for racial disparities in obesity? What are the negative health consequences of experiencing weight stigma? 

Expertise: Eating behavior, obesity, dieting and stress, eating and cellular aging, weight stigma, health disparities in stress and weight, behavioral economics and healthier eating

Location: Los Angeles, Calif.

Email: tomiyama@psych.ucla.edu

Speaking for UC San Francisco: The CRONA Study: How Calorie Restriction Affects Aging and Health