Julia K. Boehm, PhD

Julia K. Boehm, PhD, is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Harvard School of Public Health. Boehm’s research centers broadly on well-being and investigates how people can thrive both mentally and physically.

More specifically, Boehm’s research examines whether positive psychological characteristics such as optimism and life satisfaction are associated with improved cardiovascular health. She recently authored an extensive review in Psychological Bulletin on this topic, and has conducted several prospective investigations of heart disease in epidemiological cohorts. In addition, she is interested in the behavioral and biological processes that are relevant for cardiovascular health. Boehm’s goal is to identify those psychological characteristics that contribute to healthy trajectories of cardiovascular functioning across the lifespan.

Her work has been featured in many news outlets including Reuters, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and BBC News.

She received her PhD in psychology from the University of California, Riverside.

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