February 2024: Bijou Allard wins 2nd place for poster presentation!
Congratulations to undergraduate research assistant Bijou Allard, whose poster presentation at the 2024 meeting for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology won 2nd place! She examined self-esteem’s association with systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
December 2022: Research assistants present their research at Chapman University’s Student Scholar Symposium and take home the top prize!
Undergraduate students in the HWB Lab presented the research they conducted at the fall 2022 Student Scholar Symposium. One of their posters regarding the use of coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic was awarded the best overall student presentation by the Psychology Department!
Left to right: Kimi Uenaka, Tanshi Mohan, and Bijou Allard.
Left to right: Natalia Miranda and Jolie Binstock.
August 2022: Congratulations to Micah Gonchar for being selected for the prestigious Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program and receiving a scholarly grant to support his research!
Former lab member Micah Gonchar presented the research he conducted as part of the SURF program at Chapman’s summer research conference. Thanks to the Center for Undergraduate Excellence for their ongoing support of undergraduate research!
March 2022: A research presentation, a reunion, and awards at the 2022 annual meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society!
Current and former lab members (left to right: Hannah Fereday, Jolie Binstock, Amber Rahim, and Kimi Uenaka) presented their research at the 2022 annual meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society, which is the first in-person conference we have attended in several years.
In addition, current Chapman faculty and students were blessed to reunite with Chapman alumni. Alum Jin Wen was honored with a travel award while Chapman faculty members Julia Boehm and Tara Gruenewald were recognized as Fellows of the American Psychosomatic Society! Congratulations all!
January 2020: Dr. Boehm is quoted in the New York Times about her research on optimism and health!
Read Jane Brody’s New York Times article “Looking on the Bright Side May Be Good for Your Health,” which describes recent evidence of optimism’s beneficial health effects.
June 2019: Olivia Silke wins National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship!
Former lab member Olivia Silke won a prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation! She will use this fellowship at the University of California, Irvine to investigate the effects of stress on low-income mothers and their infants. Congratulations Olivia!
May 2019: Best wishes for graduating seniors!
Graduating seniors Ashleigh Dimpflmaier (left), Danielle Zahn (right), and Marie Bedel (not pictured) took home the top awards given by Chapman’s Department of Psychology. Congratulations on working so hard these past four years – you will no doubt succeed in whatever path you choose to take!
March 2019: Lab alumni in Vancouver, BC!
Along with the amazing research that was presented at the 2019 annual meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society, Dr. Boehm was thrilled to see two lab alumni: Olivia Silke and Jin Wen. These two are the next generation of researchers, and we couldn’t be more proud of them!
February 2019: Research at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology in Portland, OR
Undergraduate student, Danielle Zahn, presented research conducted with Dr. Boehm and Dr. Brooke Jenkins regarding affect variability.
In addition, at the health pre-conference, Dr. Boehm was honored to receive the Social Personality Health Network’s early career award for outstanding research that integrates social and personality psychology with health psychology. Plan to attend the 2020 health pre-conference in New Orleans to hear her award address!
May 2018: So much to celebrate in the Health and Well-Being Lab!
Dr. Boehm won Chapman’s prestigious Wang-Fradkin Assistant Professorship (below), which is given to one assistant professor each year in recognition of exceptional scholarly activity.
In addition to presenting a year’s worth of research at Chapman’s Student Research Day, three wonderful members of the lab have graduated! Best of luck to them in their future endeavors!
Left to right: Michelle Nguyen, Samira Amirazizi, Marie Bedel, Danielle Zahn, Moriah Geller, and Julia Boehm.
Left to right: Samira Amirazizi, Julia Boehm, Moriah Geller, and Michelle Nguyen.
April 2018: New research on optimism and health behaviors published!
Dr. Boehm and her colleagues conducted three meta-analyses exploring optimism’s relationship with physical activity, dietary intake, and cigarette smoking. See the findings here.
March 2018: The Health and Well-Being Lab presents research at the 2018 meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society!
Dr. Boehm and research assistant Moriah Geller (below) both presented their research in posters and symposiums at the 2018 meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society.
Left to right: Anne-Josée Guimond, Claudia Trudel-Fitzgerald, and Julia Boehm.
Left to right: Suzanne Segerstrom, Claudia Trudel-Fitzgerald, Julia Boehm, Lewina Lee, and Eric Kim.
December 2017: Research assistant Moriah Geller wins award!
Moriah Geller won first place for an oral presentation she gave at the 27th Annual Research Conference of the Orange County Graduate Women in Science. Moriah described her senior research project, which seeks to boost adolescents’ sense of autonomy to foster healthier behaviors. Congratulations Moriah!
December 2016: Meeting famous psychologist Phil Zimbardo!
Two members of the lab, Samira Amirazizi and Aylin Gann, had the opportunity to meet with the famous social psychologist, Phil Zimbardo. They were attending a fundraiser to support Zimbardo’s Heroic Imagination Project, which helps regular people do good in challenging circumstances. Thanks for helping to inspire the next generation of psychologists Professor Zimbardo!
December 2016: New findings released!
New findings regarding the association between well-being and physical activity have been published in Annals of Behavioral Medicine by Dr. Boehm and her colleagues. They report that older adults with greater happiness and meaning in their lives engage in more physical activity across ten years. Moreover, happier people who started the study active are less likely to become inactive over time compared to their less happy peers. Learn more about the study here.
October 2016: Guest speaker Ted Robles!
The psychology department was pleased to welcome Dr. Ted Robles to Chapman University to present his research about family relationships and health.
Left to right: David Frederick, Laura Glynn, Ted Robles, Julia Boehm, Kelly Gildersleeve, and Jennifer Hahn-Holbrook.
May 2016: Research presentations and graduation!
Students presented one of the lab’s research projects to the Chapman community (in picture on left, from left to right: Aylin Gann, Kelsey Banning, Samira Amirazizi, Samantha Goulding, and Roxana Nouri).
Two longtime lab members, Roxana Nouri and Karynna Okabe-Miyamoto (below), have graduated from Chapman! Although it is bittersweet to see them go, they have bright futures ahead of them at medical school and graduate school!
May 2015: Congratulations to the lab’s graduating seniors!
Three stellar students – Alexandra Macias, Olivia Silke (below with Dr. Boehm), and Jin Wen – have graduated from Chapman University and are moving on to the next phase of their lives! We wish you all the best!
May 2015: Dr. Boehm honored for faculty-student research!
Dr. Boehm and other faculty members were honored at Chapman University’s Faculty Research Recognition Reception.
May 2015: Student presentations!
Undergraduate research assistants Olivia Silke, Karynna Okabe-Miyamoto, Roxana Nouri, and Jin Wen (left to right; Bailey Waln not pictured) presented the lab’s current research at Chapman’s Student Research Day!
Graduating senior, Olivia Silke, also presented her thesis project at the 2015 annual convention of the Western Psychological Association!
February 2015: Dr. Boehm’s research is featured in the OC Register and Scientific American!
Click below to read the full articles.
December 2014: Student presentations at Chapman’s research day!
Undergraduate research assistants presented the lab’s current research to the Chapman community.
July 2014: Dr. Boehm is interviewed by Dr. Santora on Health Matters.
Watch the interview here, or visit the Health Matters website.
June 2014: Dr. Boehm is interviewed on the Academic Minute.
Listen to the interview below, or read the transcript.
May 2014: Student research day!
Members of the HWB Lab presented their research findings at Chapman University’s campus wide Student Research Day. Congratulations to the team on their first formal presentation!
April 2014: Navigating the academic job market.
Dr. Boehm served as a panelist on a virtual brown bag about surviving and being successful on the academic job market. For tips from Dr. Boehm and other professors, listen to the video.
For other virtual brown bags from the Social Personality & Health Network, please visit here.