Data-driven inquiries into the cognitive science and neurophysiology behind stress, trauma and recovery, and resilience
We are complex creatures living in complex environments where stress neurobiology, behavioural psychology, and resilience intersect—a critical frontier for understanding human adaptation.
It’s here the fundamental question remains: What enables some to go beyond surviving a critical situation to fundamentally reorganizing their way of being in the world? This question is at the heart of my research into the cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms that underpin adaptive responses to chronic stress, particularly under dynamic, extreme conditions or during pivotal life transitions where uncertainty, vulnerability, and opportunity converge.
Resilience is about understanding what happens within a person as much as what happens to them
My work examines behavioral and adaptive responses to dynamic environments, traumatic experience, and chronic stress across diverse contexts—from midlife transitions to extreme operational environments. Recent investigations explored emotion regulation and interoceptive processing in high-performance professionals and midlife populations, with ongoing research examining stress resilience in isolated, confined, and extreme settings.
The distinguishing factor is an integrated, multi-scale framework: From neurobiological mechanisms of 'inner space' to the cognitive science of resilience and collective dynamics of social connection. This approach bridges individual stress physiology with interpersonal and systems-level factors, creating pathways for interventions that inform clinical practice, organizational procedure, and global health policy.
Mental health matters—at every stage of our lives.
Chronic stress is a major culprit that can block pathways to coping, resilience, and recovery. Studies during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic found +1 billion people, globally, suffer from a full-blown mental disorder and millions more experience inconvenient and debilitating (undiagnosed) psychological symptoms since exacerbated by lockdowns and restrictive pandemic measures.
“Midway along life's journey I woke to find myself in a dark wood.”
- Dante Alighieri