• BBPSB Profile

Dr. Irwin's research interests are to map the reciprocal interactions in behavior and immunity, with an emphasis on the relationships between depression, sleep disturbance, and inflammation. His work makes extensive use of experimental human models, large-scale prospective designs, and randomized controlled trials to develop a comprehensive understanding of the role of behavior, in combination with personal and genomic characteristics, for the risk for mental disorders, infectious disease, and inflammation; and to translate such knowledge into effective behavioral strategies with the potential to prevent mental disorders and influence risk for inflammatory disease.

Dr. Irwin's current research project, Tai Chi Effects on Chronic Insomnia in Breast Cancer Survivors: Immune Mechanisms, will provide understanding of the biobehavioral mechanisms of insomnia in breast cancer survivors. Insomnia is one of the most prevalent behavioral symptoms in breast cancer survivors following cancer diagnosis and treatment, and occurs at a nearly 4-fold rate found in the general population. Within the framework of an intervention trial, this study will have broad implications for understanding the psychobiological mechanisms that link sleep and health outcomes in breast cancer survivors, and provide novel information about the role of sleep on other behavioral sequelae (fatigue, depression), as possibly mediated through changes in pro-inflammatory cytokine activity.

• Featured Grant in Basic Biobehavioral and Psychological Sciences Branch (BBPSB)
• Tai Chi Effects on Chronic Insomnia in Breast Cancer Survivors: Immune Mechanisms
• 5R01CA119159-05


• Program Director of Featured Grant: Paige Green-McDonald