AME Leadership | Aging, Metabolism and Emotion Center

The AME Center Directors, Faculty, Postdoctoral Scholars, Staff, and Core Collaborators share the goal of improving the ‘healthspan’ of individuals and communities, from conception to the 'golden years.'

Our leaders focus on understanding how enhancing emotion regulation and coping mechanisms as well as daily lifestyle and restorative behaviors, including sleep, physical activity, social connectivity, and purpose in life may improve biological and psychological resilience to aging. Our award-winning research is funded by private foundations and the National Institute of Health (NIH) and generous philanthropy.

Click here to join our team and find out about internship opportunities.

AME Center Directors

Elissa Epel, PhD

Professor, AME Director

Elissa Epel, Ph.D, is a Professor, and Vice Chair, in the Department of Psychiatry, at the University of California, San Francisco. Her research aims to elucidate mechanisms of healthy aging and to apply this basic science to scalable interventions that can reach vulnerable populations. She is the Co-Director of the Aging, Metabolism, and Emotions Center, and the Consortium for Obesity Assessment, Study, & Treatment, (COAST), and a Co-Director of the Center for Health and Community.

Aric Prather, PhD

Professor, AME Co-Director

Aric A. Prather, PhD is a Professor in the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. He co-directs the Aging, Metabolism, and Emotions Center, and is the Interim Director of the Center for Health and Community. His research program focuses on the causes and consequences of insufficient sleep, with an emphasis on the bidirectional links between stress and sleep and how those factors independently and synergistically impact the immune system.