Dr. Chris Fagundes is an associate professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Rice University, Dr. Fagundes uses theories and methods from clinical, social, and developmental health psychology to examine how stress “gets under the skin” to impact diseases of older adulthood such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and cognitive decline. He is also interested in how the immune system regulates neuronal function in ways that influence mood and health behaviors. He has authored more than 100 articles and book chapters. As a principal investigator, his current grant portfolio consists of two longitudinal observational studies funded by the National Institute of Health, and one clinical trial funded by the National Endowment of Arts. He is a co-investigator on two additional NIH grants using mobile health sensing technology to identify when people are most at risk for poor health behaviors. Dr. Fagundes has served as a mentor on individual NIH training applications at the post-bachelor, pre-doctoral, post-doctoral, and junior faculty level. He was named a “Rising Star” by the Association of Psychological Science. He was the recipient of the Robert Ader New Investigator Award from the Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society, the Neal E. Miller New Investigator Award from the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, the Excellence in Health Psychology Research Award by an Early Career Professional from Division 38 of the American Psychological Association, and the Herbert Weiner Early Career Award from the American Psychosomatic Society.