Stress, Emotion & Physical Health Lab
Welcome to the STEP lab!
We study how positive psychological factors and social relationships benefit health & improve the stress response. The STEP Lab was born in 2013 and is located in sunny Orange County on the campus of the
Summer lab meeting at a campus Starbucks
Cameron and Vida presenting
The lab escapes with a top 5 finish!
Summer lab meeting at a campus Starbucks
Dr. Pressman's TEDx Talk!
Principal Investigator
Lab Manager
Sarah Pressman
Nour Younies
STEP Lab News
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Listen to Dr. Pressman talk about why you NEED a vacation on the APA Speaking of Psychology podcast
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STEP Lab alum Benjamin Gibson completed his Ph.D. in Cognition, Brain and Behavior from the University of New Mexico (UNM) and accepted a (paid) internship as a UX and Human Factors Scientist at Charles River Analytics!
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Graduate Student Desi Delgadillo wins the Latino Excellence and Achievement Award for Social Ecology!
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Lab manager Jazlyn Luu was just accepted into the Clinical Psychology PhD program at UC-Irvine. We're so happy we get to keep her :)
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Dr. Pressman and lab collaborator Dr. Aric Prather were awarded the Springer Award for Excellence in Publication in Behavioral Medicine for excellence in publication and contribution to the field for their article on sleep and vaccination response.
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Former Graduate Student Dr. Emily Hooker is headed to the NIH to start a new position as a program officer in the division of social and behavioral science research at the National Institutes for Aging!
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Lab Graduate Student Desi Delgadillo wins the UC President's post doc fellowship (and will be headed to UCLA)
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Congratulations to STEP Lab alum, Averi Wilhelms, who got accepted into the UC San Diego School of Medicine!
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Check out this feature on new assistant professor at Belmont University and STEP lab alumni Dr. Irene Lawrence
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Graduate student Cameron Wiley becomes the third current STEP lab member to receive a prestigious Ford Foundation predoctoral fellowship, joining lab mates Kennedy Blevins & Veronica Ramirez as fellows
Looking for information on letters of recommendation or grad school? Check our resources page!
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Graduate Student Kennedy Blevins, Dr. Pressman, and Dr. Amber Johnson (CSULB) receive an END-DISPARITIES grant to study the superwoman schema in African American women and how it connects to health
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Cameron Wiley, Dr. Pressman & Dr. DeWayne Williams receive an award to study how well-being effects on health may vary depending on race from the UCSF emotional well-being consortium.
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Dr. Pressman receives an AXA Research Award to conduct a study on stress resilience and COVID-19
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Dr. Pressman receives a 1.2 million dollar award to examine stress and emotional responses to Augmented Reality training in emergency medicine.
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STEP lab alum Amanda Acevedo is joining the National Cancer Institute as program director in 2022!
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Dr. Pressman chairs the most submitted to meeting ever (over 77 years) of the American Psychosomatic Society
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LA times feature on smart phone-security blanket study
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Dr. Pressman featured on Efficient Coaching Podcast
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Dr. Pressman talks about smiling at the University of Michigan POS LINKS series.
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An oldie but a favorite: Stephen Colbert on a STEP LAB smiling & stress study
News Continued...
Work with us!
Are you interested in getting more involved with research and think the STEP Lab is right for you? Find out more and apply here