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janeProfessor of Psychiatry and Medicine

School of Medicine Psychiatry
Chapel Hill, NC 27599

jles@med.unc.edu

Link to a list of publications on PubMed



Biography

Jane Leserman, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Medicine. She is a medical sociologist with extensive research background in the areas of: behavioral and psychosomatic medicine, psychoneuroimmunology, issues related to women’s health, and quantitative research methods. Dr. Leserman has published extensively in the field of psychoneuroimmunology, particularly on how stress, depression and social support affect immune change and disease progression in HIV infection. She has served as the principal investigator of the University of North Carolina portion of the Coping in Health and Illness Project, a 14-year NIMH funded study to examine the effects of psychiatric, psychosocial, and neuroendocrine correlates of immune change and disease progression in HIV-infected men. More recently, she is studying the effects of a trauma treatment intervention on the psychological and physical health of HIV infected men and women.

In addition, Dr. Leserman‘s research has examined the long-term physical and mental health effects of sexual and physical abuse history among women with gastrointestinal disorders, pelvic pain and other painful conditions. Currently, she is also examining the effects of psychosocial and biological variables on postpartum depression. Dr. Leserman‘s interest in women’s health led to the publishing of a report entitled, “In Sickness and in Health: The Status of Women’s Health in North Carolina,” a comprehensive assessment including heart disease, cancer, sexually transmitted diseases, violence against women, reproductive health, and access to health care. Dr. Leserman is on the board of the Family Violence Prevention Center of Orange County.