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Michael R. Irwin, MD

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Professor
Cousins Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA; Professor of Psychology, UCLA College of Letters and Sciences; Director, Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience
Primary Area: Health Psychology
Home Department: Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
Address: 300 UCLA Medical Plaza #3109, Los Angeles, CA 90095
Phone: 310 825 8281
Email: mirwin1@ucla.edu

Biography:

Michael R. Irwin is one of the world’s foremost experts on the psychoneuroimmunological pathways by which psychosocial and behavioral factors influence health and disease.  He is the Norman Cousins Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Science at the UCLA Geffen School of Medicine, Director of the Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology at the UCLA Semel Institute, Director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at the UCLA Semel Institute, and Director of the Center’s Inflammatory Biology Core. Dr. Irwin pioneered basic studies to show that activation of receptor dependent mechanisms in the brain (e.g., corticotropin releasing hormone) play a key role in the integration of the HPA, autonomic, and immune responses to stress.  His clinical translational studies were among the first to demonstrate that b-adrenergic receptor mechanisms steered a reduction in anti-viral immunity and an increase inflammatory responses, and the role of these molecular pathways on infectious- and inflammatory disease pathogenesis in older adults, and in patients with depression, insomnia, cardiovascular disease, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and alcohol- and cocaine use disorders. His ongoing work is focused on the reciprocal interactions between the immune- and central nervous systems, and the role of sleep disturbance on the molecular and cellular inflammatory signaling pathways that influence depression- and physical health risk with a focus on cancer survivors and older adults.  Dr. Irwin’s research has broadly integrated data from laboratory animal studies, epidemiological studies, clinical naturalistic history- and prospective studies, experimental studies, and randomized controlled trials that have employed both behavioral- and mind-body approaches.  Together, his research has been supported continuously for over 25 years by his PI leadership of over 25 R01 type awards from the National Institute of Aging, National Cancer Institute, National Heart Lung and Blood Disorders Institute, National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Disorders, National Institute of Drug Abuse, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), and the National Institute of Mental Health.

Honors/Awards:

  • 1991 – Early Career Award, American Psychosomatic Society
  • 2001 – President – Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society
  • 2001–2004 – Member, National Advisory Council, Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
  • 2003 – President – Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research
  • 2005 – Outstanding Faculty Research Mentor Award, UCLA School of Medicine
  • 2007 – Norman Cousins Research Award, Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society
  • 2008 – Chair, Blue Ribbon Intramural Research Strategic Planning Panel, NCCAM
  • 2008 – Distinguished Fellow, American Psychiatric Association
  • 2008–2010 – Secretary Treasurer, American Psychosomatic Society
  • 2009 – Lauda Wellness Award
  • 2010-2011 – President-Elect/President, American Psychosomatic Society
  • 2014 – Best Research Prize, European Society of Integrative Medicine
  • 2014-2016 – Chairperson, IH Centers for Scientific Review, Mechanisms of Emotion, Stress and Health Study Section

Representative Publications:

Selected from over 265 peer-reviewed publications

  1. O’Connor MF, Wellisch D, Stanton AL, Olmstead R, Irwin MR. Diurnal cortisol patterns in complicated and non-complicated grief. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2012;37(5):725–728. PMID: 21925795.
  2. Bower JE, Garet D, Sternlieb B, Ganz PA, Irwin MR, Olmstead R, Greendale G. Yoga for persistent fatigue in breast cancer survivors: A randomized controlled trial. Cancer. 2012;118:3766–3775. PMID: 22180393.
  3. Nicassio PM, Kay M, Custodio M, Irwin MR, Olmstead R, Weisman MH. Contribution of pain and depression to self-reported sleep disturbance in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Pain. 2012;153:107–112. PMID: 22051047.
  4. Thomas KS, Bower JE, Williamson TJ, Hoyt MA, Wellisch D, Stanton AL, Irwin MR. Post-traumatic stress disorder and blunted diurnal cortisol production in partners of prostate cancer patients. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2012;37(8):1181–1190.
  5. Irwin MR, Olmstead R, Carrillo C, Sadeghi N, Fitzgerald J, Ranganath V, Nicassio PM. Sleep loss exacerbates fatigue, depression, and pain in rheumatoid arthritis. Sleep. 2012;35(4):537–543. PMID: 22467992.
  6. Inagaki TK, Keely MA, Muscatell A, Irwin MR, Cole SW, Eisenberger NI. Inflammation selectively enhances amygdala activity to socially threatening images. Neuroimage. 2012;59(4):3222–3226. PMID: 22079507.
  7. Doering L, Chen B, Cross R, Magsarili MC, Nyamathi A, Irwin MR. Early cognitive behavioral therapy for depression after cardiac surgery. Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. 2013;28:370–379. PMID: 22635060.
  8. Lavretsky H, Siddarth P, Nazarian N, Cyr NS, Witarama T, Breen EC, Khalsa DS, Lin J, Blackburn E, Epel ES, Irwin MR. A pilot study of yogic meditation for distressed family dementia caregivers: Effects on mental health, cognition, telomerase. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 2012;28(1):57–65. PMID: 22407663.
  9. Nicassio PM, Ormseth SR, Custodio MK, Olmstead R, Irwin MR, Weisman MH. A multidimensional model of fatigue in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Journal of Rheumatology. 2012;39:1807–1813. PMID: 22660801.
  10. Ishii S, Karlamangla A, Bote M, Irwin MR, Jacobs D, Cho HJ, Seeman TS. Gender, obesity, and repeated elevation of C-reactive protein: data from the CARDIA cohort. PLoS ONE. 2012;7(4):e36062. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0036062.
  11. Kierlin L, Olmstead R, Yokomizo M, Nicassio P, Irwin MR. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual criteria for insomnia-related impairment in daytime functioning: Polysomnographic correlates in older adults. Sleep Medicine. 2012;13:958–960. PMID: 22721715.
  12. Hoyt MA, Irwin MR, Stanton A. Cancer-related masculine threat, emotional approach coping, and physical functioning following treatment for prostate cancer. Health Psychology. 2013;32(1):66–74. PMID: 23316854.
  13. Black DS, Cole S, Irwin MR, Breen E, St. Cyr MN, Nazarian N, Khalsa DS, Lavretsky H. Yogic meditation reverses NF-κB and IRF-related transcriptome dynamics in leukocytes among caregivers facing a significant life stressor. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2013;38(3):348–355.
  14. Irwin MR, Olmstead R, Ganz PA, Haque R. Sleep disturbance, inflammation, and depression risk in cancer survivors. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. 2013;30:S58–S67. PMID: 22634367.
  15. Cho HJ, Kivimaki M, Bower JE, Irwin MR. Association of C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 with new-onset fatigue in the Whitehall II prospective cohort study. Psychological Medicine. 2013;43(8):1773–1783. PMID: 23151405.
  16. Cho HJ, Bower JE, Kiefe CI, Seeman TE, Irwin MR. Early life stress and inflammatory mechanisms of fatigue in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. 2012;26:859–865. PMID: 22554493.
  17. Nicassio PM, Ormseth SR, Custodio MK, Olmstead R, Weisman MH, Irwin MR. Confirmatory factor analysis of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Behavioral Sleep Medicine. 2014;12:1–12. PMID: 23390921.
  18. Irwin MR, Rothermundt M. Clinical psychoneuroimmunology. In: Handbook of Clinical Neurology. 2012;106:211–225. PMID: 22608623.
  19. Schultze-Florey CR, Martínez-Maza O, Magpantay L, Breen EC, Irwin MR, Gündel H, O’Connor MF. When grief makes you sick: Bereavement-induced systemic inflammation is a question of genotype. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. 2012;26(7):1066–1071. PMID: 22735772.
  20. Creswell JD, Irwin MR, Burklund LJ, Lieberman MD, Arevalo JMG, Ma J, Cole SW. Mindfulness meditation training reduces loneliness and pro-inflammatory gene expression in older adults: A randomized controlled trial. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. 2012;26(7):1095–1101. PMID: 22820409.
  21. Irwin MR. Sleep and infectious disease risk: Commentary on Prather et al. Sleep and antibody response to hepatitis B vaccination. Sleep. 2012;35(8):1025–1026.
  22. Ganz PA, Bower JE, Kwan L, Castellon SA, Silverman DHS, Irwin MR, Cole SW. Does tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) play a role in post-chemotherapy cerebral dysfunction? Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. 2012. PMID: 22884417.
  23. Elderkin-Thompson V, Irwin MR, Helleman G, Kumar A. Interleukin-6 and memory functions of encoding and recall in healthy and depressed elderly subjects. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 2012;20(9):753–763. PMID: 22892560.
  24. Cole JC, Khahan D, Clements PJ, Seibold JR, Tashkin DP, Paulus HE, Irwin MR, Motivala SJ, Furst DE. Single-factor scoring validation for the Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (HAQ-DI) in patients with systemic sclerosis and comparison with early rheumatoid arthritis patients. Quality of Life Research. 2012;15:1383–1394.
  25. Irwin MR, Levin MJ, Laudenslager M, Carrillo C, Olmstead R, Lucko A, Lange N, Stanley HA, Caulfield MJ, Weinberg A, Chan ISF, Clair J, Smith JG, Marchese RD, Williams HM, Beck DJ, McCook PT, Zhang JH, Johnson G, Oxman MN. Varicella-zoster virus-specific immune responses to a herpes zoster vaccine in elderly recipients with depression and the impact of antidepressant medications. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2013;56(8):1085–1093. PMID: 23413415.
  26. Schmader KE, Oxman MN, Levin MJ, Johnson G, Zhang JH, Betts R, Morrison VA, Gelb L, Guatelli JC, Harbecke R, Pachucki C, Keay S, Menzies B, Griffin MR, Kauffman C, Marques A, Toney J, Keller PM, Li X, Chan IS, Annunziato P; Shingles Prevention Study Group. Persistence of the efficacy of zoster vaccine in the shingles prevention study and the short-term persistence substudy. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2012;55(10):1320–1328. PMID: 22828595.
  27. Griffis C, Breen EC, Goldberg A, Witarama T, Kotlerman J, Compton M, Irwin MR. Acute painful stress and inflammatory mediator production. Neuroimmunomodulation. 2013;20(3):127–133. PMID: 23407214.
  28. Bower JE, Ganz PA, Irwin MR, Castellon S, Arevalo J, Cole SW. Cytokine genetic variation and cancer-related behavioral symptoms among patients with breast cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2013;31(13):1656–1661. PMID: 23530106.
  29. Hoyt MA, Stanton AL, Bower JE, Thomas KS, Litwin MS, Breen EC, Irwin MR. Inflammatory biomarkers and emotional approach coping in men with prostate cancer. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. 2013;32:173–192.
  30. Ganz PA, Kwan L, Castellon SA, Oppenheim A, Bower JE, Silverman DHS, Cole SW, Irwin MR, Ancoli-Israel S, Belin TR. Cognitive complaints after breast cancer treatments: Relationship to neuropsychological test performance. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 2013;105:791–801. PMID: 23606729.
  31. Campo RA, O’Connor K, Light KC, Nakamura Y, Lipschitz D, LaStayo PC, Pappas L, Boucher K, Irwin MR, Agarwal N, Kinney AY. Feasibility and acceptability of a Tai Chi Chih randomized controlled trial in senior female cancer survivors. Integrative Cancer Therapy. 2013;12:464–474. PMID: 23620504.
  32. Pomykala KL, Ganz PA, Bower JE, Kwan L, Castellon SA, Mallam S, Cheng I, Ahn R, Breen EC, Irwin MR, Silverman DHS. The association between pro-inflammatory cytokines, regional cerebral metabolism, and cognitive complaints following adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer. Brain Imaging and Behavior. 2013. PMID: 23835929.
  33. Lee E, Cho HJ, Olmstead R, Levin MJ, Oxman MN, Irwin MR. Persistent sleep disturbance and prospective risk of depression in community-dwelling older adults. Sleep. 2013;36:1685–1691. PMID: 24179302.
  34. Barsevick AM, Irwin MR, Hinds P, Miller A, Berger A, Jacobsen P, Ancoli-Israel S, Reeve B, Mustian K, O’Mara A, Lai JS, Cella D; National Cancer Institute Clinical Trials Planning Group. Recommendations for high priority research on cancer-related fatigue in children and adults. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 2013;105(19):1432–1440. PMID: 24047960.
  35. Youngstedt SD, Jean-Louis G, Bootzin R, Irwin MR. Chronic moderate sleep restriction in older long sleepers and older average duration sleepers: A randomized controlled trial. Contemporary Clinical Trials. 2013;36(1):175–186. PMID: 23811325.
  36. Moughrabi S, Evangelista LS, Habib SI, Kassabian L, Breen EC, Nyamathi A, Irwin MR. In patients with stable heart failure, soluble TNF-receptor 2 is associated with increased risk for depressive symptoms. Biological Research for Nursing. 2013.
  37. Dimsdale JE, Creed F, Escobar J, Sharpe M, Wulsin L, Barsky A, Lee S, Irwin MR, Levenson J. Somatic symptom disorder: An important change in DSM. Journal of Psychosomatic Research. 2013;75(3):223–228. PMID: 23972410.
  38. Dzierzewski JM, Fung CH, Jouldjian S, Alessi C, Irwin MR, Martin JL. Decreased daytime sleep is associated with improved cognition following hospital discharge in older adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2014;62:47–53.
  39. Irwin MR. Depression and insomnia in cancer: Prevalence, risk factors, and effects on cancer outcomes. Current Psychiatry Reports. 2013;15(11):404. PMID: 24078066.
  40. Morrison VA, Oxman MN, Levin MJ, Schmader KE, Guatelli JC, Betts RF, Gelb LD, Pachucki CT, Keay SK, Menzies B, Griffin MR, Kauffman CA, Marques AR, Toney JF, Simberkoff MS, Serrao R, Arbeit RD, Gnann JW, Greenberg RN, Holodniy M, Keitel WA, Yeh SS, Davis LE, Crawford GE, Neuzil KM, Johnson GR, Zhang JH, Harbecke R, Chan IS, Keller PM, Williams HM, Boardman KD, Silber JL, Annunziato PW; Shingles Prevention Study Group. Safety of zoster vaccine in elderly adults following documented herpes zoster. Journal of Infectious Disease. 2013;208(4):559–563. PMID: 23633406.
  41. O’Connor MF, Schultze-Florey CR, Irwin MR, Arevalo JMG, Cole SW. Divergent gene expression responses to complicated grief and non-complicated grief. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. 2014;37:78–83. PMID: 24380850.
  42. Slavich GM, Irwin MR. From stress to inflammation and major depressive disorder: A social signal transduction theory of depression. Psychological Bulletin. 2014;140(3):774–815. PMID: 24417575.
  43. Bower JE, Garet D, Sternlieb B, Crosswell AD, Ganz PA, Irwin MR, Olmstead R, Greendale G, Cole SW. Yoga reduces inflammatory processes in breast cancer survivors: A randomized controlled trial. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2014;43:20–29. PMID: 24703167.
  44. Burklund LJ, Creswell JD, Irwin MR, Lieberman MD. Common neural bases of affect labeling and reappraisal. Frontiers in Psychology. 2014;5:221. PMID: 24715880.
  45. Doering LV, Chen B, McGuire A, Bodán RC, Irwin MR. Persistent depressive symptoms and pain after cardiac surgery. Psychosomatic Medicine. 2014 Jun 20. [Epub ahead of print]. PMID: 24979578.
  46. Morgan N, Irwin MR, Chung M, Wang C. The effects of mind-body therapies (tai chi, qi gong, meditation, and yoga) on the immune system: A systematic review. PLoS ONE. 2014;9(7):e100903. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0100903. PMID: 24988414.
  47. Black DS, O’Reilly GA, Olmstead R, Breen EC, Irwin MR. Mindfulness meditation versus sleep hygiene education for sleep problems in older adults: Design and methodology of a randomized controlled trial. Contemporary Clinical Trials. 2014. pii: S1551-7144(14)00095-0. doi:10.1016/j.cct.2014.06.013. [Epub ahead of print]. PMID: 24993561.
  48. Prasad SM, Eggener SE, Lipsitz SR, Irwin MR, Ganz PA, Hu JC. The effect of depression on the diagnosis, treatment, and mortality of men with prostate cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2014. pii: JCO.2013.51.1048. PMID: 25002728.

http://www.semel.ucla.edu/cousins