Janet Tomiyama

Janet Tomiyama is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Her research focuses on health psychology, with a particular emphasis on weight stigma, obesity, stress, and health disparities. She leads the Dieting, Stress, and Health (DiSH) Lab, which investigates the psychological and physiological mechanisms linking stress to eating behaviors and chronic disease. Dr. Tomiyama earned her Ph.D. in Psychology from UCLA and has pioneered the Cyclic Obesity/Weight-Based Stigma (COBWEBS) model, which examines how weight stigma perpetuates obesity and health disparities.

Her work spans topics such as the impact of weight bias on healthcare practices, the role of stress in eating behaviors, and the intersection of race, gender, and body weight. She has published extensively on the limitations of dieting and the harmful effects of weight stigma, advocating for weight-inclusive health policies. Dr. Tomiyama also serves as President-Elect of the Society for Biopsychosocial Medicine and has contributed to large-scale studies like the NHLBI Growth and Health Study, analyzing longitudinal data on Black and White women's health outcomes.

Key contributions include demonstrating how weight stigma exacerbates health risks, investigating cortisol's role in stress-related eating, and evaluating interventions to reduce anti-fat bias. Her research integrates epidemiology, experimental psychology, and clinical studies, with a focus on promoting equity in healthcare and public health practices.