Tomiko YonedaView profile
Assistant Professor
Tomiko Yoneda is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Davis. Her research focuses on understanding how personality traits, social relationships, and lifestyle factors influence health and cognitive outcomes in older adults. She employs interdisciplinary methods, including longitudinal studies and coordinated data analyses, to explore topics like personality-cognition links, social determinants of health, and aging disparities. Dr. Yoneda is also committed to fostering inclusive academic environments and mentoring students from diverse backgrounds. Her work spans multiple domains: (1) Personality dynamics in aging, examining traits like neuroticism and conscientiousness as predictors of health and longevity; (2) Social relationships' impact on physiological health (e.g., cortisol regulation in couples); and (3) Cross-cultural studies of aging in Japan and North America. Notable contributions include systematic reviews on personality-allostatic load relationships and meta-analyses linking personality to mortality risks. Received EDITOR'S CHOICE recognition in Psychoneuroendocrinology (2024) and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (2022) Principal investigator of the Yoneda Lab at UC Davis Dr. Yoneda emphasizes translational research that bridges psychological and biomedical perspectives. She collaborates internationally on projects analyzing cognitive healthspan, dementia risk factors, and interventions to promote healthy aging. Her teaching focuses on lifespan development and research methodologies.









