Elissa Epel, Ph.D, is a Professor at UCSF. She studies how chronic stress can impact biological aging (such as the telomere/telomerase system), and how meditation interventions may buffer stress effects and promote psychological and physiological thriving. Epel is one of the first recipients of a JWB Brick Foundation grant, and is studying and comparing the effects of wim hof breathing, exercise, and meditation on mental health and cell aging. She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine. Epel co-wrote “The Telomere Effect” with Liz Blackburn, a New York Times best seller under Science.