Dr Elissa Epel is a Professor, and Vice Chair, in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. She is a renowned health psychologist who has conducted pioneering research into how stress can compromise our health, all the way down to the cellular level, and how to improve wellbeing and slow ageing. She was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, is the past President of the Academy of Behavioural Medicine Research, and a leader of mental health initiatives at the University of California Center for Climate Health and Equity. She studied psychology and psychobiology at Stanford University and clinical and health psychology at Yale University. Her research has been featured in TEDMED, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Her first book, The Telomere Effect, was a New York Times bestseller and was translated into over 30 languages. She loves the excitement of discovery research, the satisfaction of collaboration and mentoring, and the deep rest states and joy that come from nature and retreats.