Kristen Nishimi

Dr. Kristen Nishimi is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine and a research health science specialist in Mental Health at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System. Her academic journey includes a BA in Psychology from UC Berkeley, an MPH in Social and Behavioral Sciences from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, a PhD in Population Health Sciences from Harvard University, and postdoctoral training in Mental Health and Data Science at the San Francisco VA Healthcare System.

• University of California, Berkeley - BA Psychology
• Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health - MPH Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Harvard University - PhD Population Health Sciences
• San Francisco VA Healthcare System - Postdoc Mental Health and Data Science

Dr. Nishimi is a social and psychiatric epidemiologist whose research focuses on understanding the complex relationships between trauma, mental health, and physical health across the lifecourse. She applies advanced epidemiological methods to observational and clinical data to identify pathways between adversity and trauma exposure with various health endpoints. Her work particularly examines how trauma impacts systemic inflammation and immune system functioning, and she takes an assets-based perspective to understand psychological resilience to trauma and its potential benefits for physical health and chronic disease prevention. Her research spans multiple domains including PTSD, cardiometabolic health, autoimmune disorders, and pandemic-related health outcomes.

Analysis of Dr. Nishimi's recent publications (2022-2025) reveals a strong focus on trauma exposure and resilience in relation to both mental and physical health outcomes. Her work frequently examines these relationships through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic, exploring how pre-pandemic trauma exposure and resilience factors influenced infection risk, somatic symptoms, and mental health outcomes. She also maintains significant research on inflammation and immune function as mediators between trauma and physical health conditions, with studies on arthritis, cardiometabolic disease, and autoimmune disorders. Much of her work utilizes large longitudinal cohort studies, particularly the Nurses' Health Study.

• PreDoctoral Fellowship, T32 in Psychiatric Genetics and Translational Research (NIMH, 2019-2020)
• Harvard Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness Dissertation Award (2019-2020)
• ISTSS Student Poster Award Winner (2019)
• American Psychosomatic Society Young Investigator Colloquium Scholar (2022)
• UCSF Department of Psychiatry Trainee Research Award (2022)
• Society of Biological Psychiatry Early Career Investigator Travel Fellowship (2023)
• American College of Neuropsychopharmacology Travel Award (2023)

Dr. Nishimi currently leads multiple significant research projects including a VA Career Development Award as Principal Investigator on PTSD and Autoimmune Disease research (2023-2028), serves as Co-Investigator on a Benioff Center Microbiome Medicine project examining Gut Reactions in Women with PTSD (2023-2024), and was a Postdoctoral Fellow on an NIMH-funded study of Inflammatory Challenge and Fear Extinction for understanding PTSD (2024-2028). Her collaborative network includes prominent researchers at UCSF, Harvard, and within the VA system, particularly focusing on trauma, mental health, and physical health intersections.

Dr. Nishimi contributes to multiple research teams including the San Francisco VA Health Care System Mental Health research program and collaborative groups studying trauma across the lifecourse through large cohort studies like the Nurses' Health Study II. Her work bridges epidemiology, psychiatry, and immunology to advance understanding of how psychological experiences become biologically embedded with health consequences.