My primary research interest is in the area of health psychology and behavioral medicine where I am examining the impact of psychological stress on the risk for cardiovascular disease. My research program is based on the theory that psychological stress is a risk factor only in those individuals who are in some manner psychologically and/or biologically susceptible, and that the etiology of cardiovascular disease is multifactorial in nature. My approach has therefore been to examine alone and in interaction the moderating influences of emotion, race, gender and family history on the cardiovascular response to psychological stress. For example, we are currently involved in two areas of research involving individual difference factors in the risk for cardiovascular disease. One research stream involves the study of hostile individuals who are at elevated risk for heart disease. We are currently examining their cardiovascular responses to interpersonal stress, and the potential role of serotonin in moderating the hostility-cardiovascular relationship. A second stream involves the study of cardiovascular and ambulatory blood pressure responses to laboratory and daily life stress in Canadian Black men and women who are at elevated risk for hypertension (high blood pressure).
