Dr. Michael Irwin stands as a globally recognized authority in the field of psychoneuroimmunology, examining the intricate connections between psychological processes and immune function. He currently holds the prestigious Norman Cousins Distinguished Professorship in Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, while also serving as Distinguished Professor of Psychology in the UCLA College of Letters and Sciences. After earning his MD from the University of California, San Diego in 1981, he completed his residency at the UCLA School of Medicine in 1985, establishing the foundation for his groundbreaking career at the intersection of mind and body medicine. Dr. Irwin has maintained continuous leadership roles at UCLA, where he currently directs both the Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology and the Mindful Awareness Research Center, shaping institutional priorities in integrative health research.
Dr. Irwin has pioneered research on the psychoneuroimmunologic pathways of disease, mapping the reciprocal regulation between neural and innate immune systems to develop innovative theories about depression and inflammatory processes. His extensive body of work, comprising over 500 research articles and chapters with more than 42,000 citations, has fundamentally transformed understanding of how psychosocial and behavioral factors influence health outcomes across diverse populations. His investigations into sleep disturbance and inflammatory signaling pathways have revealed critical mechanisms linking poor sleep quality to increased inflammation and depression risk, particularly among vulnerable populations such as cancer survivors and older adults. This research has been continuously supported by 30 NIH R01 awards over more than 25 years, demonstrating its sustained significance and methodological rigor in the scientific community.
Beyond his research contributions, Dr. Irwin has provided influential leadership as past president of the Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society, American Psychosomatic Society, and Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, helping to establish these fields as legitimate scientific disciplines. He has served on the Advisory Council of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine and chaired the NIH Center for Scientific Review's Mechanisms of Emotion, Stress and Health Study Section, shaping national research priorities in mind-body medicine. Dr. Irwin has twice received the UCLA Outstanding Research Mentor Award, reflecting his commitment to training the next generation of scientists who continue to advance the field of psychoneuroimmunology. His current work focuses on developing behavioral interventions targeting sleep and inflammatory signaling to promote well-being in aging populations and cancer survivors, with implications for creating non-pharmacological approaches to managing depression and chronic disease.
