David Creswell, Associate Professor of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University

Mind & Life is excited to announce our first-ever Mind & Life Fellow Spotlight! The Fellow Spotlight is a new monthly segment where we will highlight the contributions of Mind & Life Fellows to our shared mission, featuring a different Fellow each month. 

In this month’s spotlight we are pleased to share the work of David Creswell, Associate Professor of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University. David’s work focuses on understanding what makes people resilient under stress, and more recently has examined the role of acceptance and equanimity in mindfulness training for stress reduction and health. David received the American Psychological Association and the American Psychosomatic Society Early Career Awards, and was named a Rising Star by the Association for Psychological Science. His work is regularly profiled in the media, including coverage in the NY Times, LA Times, NBC News, and the Today Show. 

In 2014, David was awarded a Mind & Life 1440 Grant to study how mindfulness meditation impacts social relationships. His research was the first to systematically assess which elements of mindfulness interventions cause benefit, with a focus on understanding the role of acceptance and equanimity. One of the key insights from this work is that learning how to be more equanimous in mindfulness programs is key for health and happiness. David’s research will come full circle in February 2020 when he co-leads a 5-day mindfulness meditation retreat at the 1440 Multiversity along with Shinzen Young and Julianna Raye that will focus on the science and practice of cultivating equanimity. Read the full program description.