Phoebe Lam

Phoebe Lam serves as Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University's Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Her research investigates how chronic or severe stress impacts physical health through inflammatory pathways, increasing risks for cardiovascular disease, respiratory illness, and cancer across the lifespan.

Her work integrates Health Psychology, Developmental Psychology, and Psychoneuroimmunology to examine how early-life stress shapes biological and psychological development. She employs life course methodologies to analyze how stress manifests differently across developmental stages and how protective factors like social support can mitigate health consequences. Her lab utilizes longitudinal studies and integrative data analysis techniques to create comprehensive lifespan datasets spanning infancy to old age.

Dr. Lam directs the Lifespan Stress and Health Lab, where her team combines primary data collection with mega-analyses of existing datasets. She champions student collaboration and authentic identity expression in academic work, emphasizing that diverse perspectives drive innovation in stress-health research.