Jennifer Daubenmier, PhD

Assistant Professor at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, Department of Medicine, UCSF

Jennifer Daubenmier, PhD, is Assistant Professor at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine in the Department of Medicine at UCSF. Her scientific interests include the effects of mind-body practices on eating behavior and stress-related chronic disease processes associated with obesity. Dr. Daubenmier received her doctorate training in Social Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley and her dissertation research examined the relationship between yoga practice and risk factors for disordered eating in women. She conducted postdoctoral training with UCSF Clinical Professor of Medicine, Dean Ornish, MD, and Gerdi Weidner, PhD at the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in which she assisted in the evaluation of clinical trials to examine effects of comprehensive lifestyle interventions (involving a low-fat diet, exercise, yoga/meditation, and group support) on quality of life and disease markers in patients with heart disease and prostate cancer.

She received a second postdoctoral fellowship at the UCSF Center for Obesity Assessment, Study, and Treatment with Elissa Epel, PhD to study the psychoneuroendocrinology of stress and its relation to food intake and obesity. Most recently, Dr. Daubenmier received a Career Development Award (K01) through NIH/NCCAM to acquire additional training and research experience to become an independent clinical trial researcher in mind-body medicine with special relevance to obesity and metabolic syndrome. This research aims to determine the benefits of integrating mindfulness practices into diet and exercise-based weight loss programs for individuals at-risk for the metabolic syndrome and examine potential psychological and physiological mechanisms of action. 

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