Kristen Nishimi, PhD, MPH | Stress and Health Research Program

Assistant Adjunct Professor

M_Psych-VAMC-Admin

Dr. Kristen Nishimi is a social and psychiatric epidemiologist, an Adjunct Assistant Professor at UCSF in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and a research health science specialist in Mental Health at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of California Berkeley, followed by an MPH at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, a PhD in Population Health Sciences at Harvard University, and a post-doctoral fellowship at UCSF and the San Francisco VA Health Care System.

Her research has focused on understanding the relationships between trauma, mental, and physical health across the lifecourse. She has developed expertise in applying advanced epidemiological methods to observational and clinical data, to identify relationships between adversity and trauma exposure across the life course, with mental, behavioral, and physical health endpoints. Her research seeks to understand the pathways and mechanisms by which trauma, mental, and physical health intertwine, particularly via impacts on systemic inflammation and immune system functioning. Dr. Nishimi is also interested in an assets-based perspective in understanding the manifestation of psychological resilience to trauma, and its potential broad benefit to physical health and chronic disease.

Publications

Independent and Joint Associations of Key Social Exposome Components with Cognitive Aging: Triangulating Evidence Through Cross-National Data.

American journal of epidemiology

Chen R, Lee H, Wang J, Yang Y, S Okuzono S, Nishimi K, Kobayashi L, Glymour MM, Kubzansky LD

Associations between PTSD and protective behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic: Results from the Mind Your Heart Study.

Journal of health psychology

Ryder AL, Graham FJ, Nishimi K, O'Donovan A, Cohen BE

Psychological resilience to trauma and longitudinal sleep outcomes among current and former nurses.

Journal of psychosomatic research

Sampson L, Scoglio AAJ, Nishimi K, Choi KW, Kim AH, Zhu Y, Sun Q, Kang JH, Rimm EB, Koenen KC, Kubzansky LD

Lifetime trauma exposure and arthritis in older adults.

Psychosomatic medicine

Nishimi K, Chen R, Schmajuk G, Neylan TC, O'Donovan A

The Prevalence, Predictors, and Health Consequences of Disagreement in Reports of Child Maltreatment Exposure.

Child psychiatry and human development

Dunn EC, Ernst SC, Nishimi K, Choi KR

Prepandemic Resilience to Trauma and COVID-19 Infection in Older Women.

Psychosomatic medicine

Scoglio AAJ, Choi KW, Nishimi K, Sampson L, Koenen KC, Roberts AL, Jha S, Kubzansky LD

Prior resilience to trauma & coping during the COVID-19 pandemic.

PloS one

Scoglio AAJ, Nishimi K, Choi KW, Koenen KC, Sampson LA, Jha SC, Kubzansky LD

Association of psychiatric disorders with clinical diagnosis of long COVID in US veterans.

Psychological medicine

Nishimi K, Neylan TC, Bertenthal D, Seal KH, O'Donovan A

Coping and emotion regulation: A conceptual and measurement scoping review.

Canadian psychology = Psychologie canadienne

Trudel-Fitzgerald C, Boucher G, Morin C, Mondragon P, Guimond AJ, Nishimi K, Choi KW, Denckla C

Coping and emotion regulation: A scoping conceptual and measurement review

Canadian Psychology

Trudel-Fitzgerald C, Boucher G, Morin C, Mondragon C, Guimond AJ, Nishimi K, Choi K, Denckla C

Psychological resilience to lifetime trauma and risk for cardiometabolic disease and mortality in older adults: A longitudinal cohort study

Journal of psychosomatic research

K Nishimi, D Bürgin, A O'Donovan

Psychological resilience to lifetime trauma and risk for cardiometabolic disease and mortality in older adults: A longitudinal cohort study.

Journal of psychosomatic research

Nishimi K, Bürgin D, O'Donovan A

Psychological Resilience to Trauma and Risk for COVID-19 Infection and Somatic Symptoms Over Two Years.

Psychosomatic medicine

Nishimi K, Tan J, Scoglio A, Choi KW, Kelley DP, Neylan TC, O'Donovan A

Post-traumatic stress disorder and risk for hospitalization and death following COVID-19 infection.

Translational psychiatry

Nishimi K, Neylan TC, Bertenthal D, Dolsen EA, Seal KH, O'Donovan A

A life course approach to understanding stress exposures and cognitive function among middle-aged and older adults.

Social science & medicine (1982)

Chen R, Williams DR, Nishimi K, Slopen N, Kubzansky LD, Weuve J

Identifying correlates of suicide ideation during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional analysis of 148 sociodemographic and pandemic-specific factors.

Journal of psychiatric research

Dolsen EA, Nishimi K, LeWinn KZ, Byers AL, Tripp P, Woodward E, Khan AJ, Marx BP, Borsari B, Jiha A, Neylan TC, O'Donovan A

Pre-pandemic resilience to trauma and mental health outcomes during COVID-19.

Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology

Choi KW, Nishimi K, Jha SC, Sampson L, Hahn J, Kang JH, Koenen KC, Kubzansky LD

Trauma, psychological distress and markers of systemic inflammation among US women: A longitudinal study.

Psychoneuroendocrinology

Lawn RB, Murchland AR, Kim Y, Chibnik LB, Tworoger SS, Rimm EB, Sumner JA, Roberts AL, Nishimi KM, Ratanatharathorn AD, Jha SC, Koenen KC, Kubzansky LD

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Depression, and Accelerated Aging: Leukocyte Telomere Length in the Nurses' Health Study II.

Biological psychiatry global open science

Ratanatharathorn A, Roberts AL, Chibnik LB, Choi KW, De Vivo I, Kim Y, Nishimi K, Rimm EB, Sumner JA, Kubzansky LD, Koenen KC

Posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and timing of menopause and gynecological surgery in the Nurses' Health Study II.

Journal of psychosomatic research

Nishimi K, Thurston RC, Chibnik LB, Roberts AL, Sumner JA, Lawn RB, Tworoger SS, Kim Y, Koenen KC, Kubzansky LD

Prior trauma exposure, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.

Journal of psychiatric research

Nishimi K, Borsari B, Tripp P, Jiha A, Dolsen EA, Woolley JD, Neylan TC, O'Donovan A

Association of Psychiatric Disorders With Incidence of SARS-CoV-2 Breakthrough Infection Among Vaccinated Adults.

JAMA network open

Nishimi K, Neylan TC, Bertenthal D, Seal KH, O'Donovan A

Psychological resilience and diurnal salivary cortisol in young adulthood.

Psychoneuroendocrinology

Nishimi K, Koenen KC, Coull BA, Segerstrom SC, Austin SB, Kubzansky LD

Worse sleep, worsening post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): Poor sleep quality associated with increases in PTSD symptoms amongst those experiencing high threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Journal of sleep research

Straus LD, Dolsen EA, Nishimi K, Neylan TC, O'Donovan A

Sexual Violence and Risk of Hypertension in Women in the Nurses' Health Study II: A 7-Year Prospective Analysis.

Journal of the American Heart Association

Lawn RB, Nishimi KM, Sumner JA, Chibnik LB, Roberts AL, Kubzansky LD, Rich-Edwards JW, Koenen KC, Thurston RC

Posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms associated with protective and risky behaviors for coronavirus disease 2019.

Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association

Nishimi K, Borsari B, Marx BP, Tripp P, Woodward E, Rosen RC, Cohen BE, Maven D, Jiha A, Woolley JD, Neylan TC, O'Donovan A

Clusters of COVID-19 protective and risky behaviors and their associations with pandemic, socio-demographic, and mental health factors in the United States.

Preventive medicine reports

Nishimi K, Borsari B, Marx BP, Rosen RC, Cohen BE, Woodward E, Maven D, Tripp P, Jiha A, Woolley JD, Neylan TC, O'Donovan A

Trauma, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Treatment Among Middle-Aged and Older Women in the Nurses' Health Study II.

The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry

Sampson L, Jha SC, Roberts AL, Lawn RB, Nishimi KM, Ratanatharathorn A, Sumner JA, Kang JH, Kubzansky LD, Rimm EB, Koenen KC

Master-planned communities in the United States as novel contexts for individual and population-level research.

Preventive medicine

Nishimi K, Glickman E, Smith K, Ben-Joseph E, Carson S, Vranceanu AM, Dunn EC

Association of Psychological Resilience With Healthy Lifestyle and Body Weight in Young Adulthood.

The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine

Nishimi KM, Koenen KC, Coull BA, Kubzansky LD

Psychological resilience predicting cardiometabolic conditions in adulthood in the Midlife in the United States Study.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Nishimi KM, Koenen KC, Coull BA, Chen R, Kubzansky LD

COVID-19 related moral injury: Associations with pandemic-related perceived threat and risky and protective behaviors.

Journal of psychiatric research

Khan AJ, Nishimi K, Tripp P, Maven D, Jiha A, Woodward E, Inslicht S, Richards A, Neylan TC, Maguen S, O'Donovan A

Association between psychological resilience and cognitive function in older adults: effect modification by inflammatory status.

GeroScience

Jung SJ, Lee GB, Nishimi K, Chibnik L, Koenen KC, Kim HC

Associations of trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder with aldosterone in women.

Psychoneuroendocrinology

Nishimi K, Adler GK, Roberts AL, Sumner JA, Jung SJ, Chen Q, Tworoger S, Koenen KC, Kubzansky LD

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Likelihood of Hormone Therapy Use among Women in the Nurses' Health Study II: A 26-Year Prospective Analysis.

Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology

Lawn RB, Nishimi KM, Kim Y, Jung SJ, Roberts AL, Sumner JA, Thurston RC, Chibnik LB, Rimm EB, Ratanatharathorn AD, Jha SC, Koenen KC, Tworoger SS, Kubzansky LD

Compounding Stress: Childhood Adversity as a Risk Factor for Adulthood Trauma Exposure in the Health and Retirement Study.

Journal of traumatic stress

Bürgin D, Boonmann C, Schmeck K, Schmid M, Tripp P, Nishimi K, O'Donovan A

The mental health effects of pet death during childhood: is it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?

European child & adolescent psychiatry

Crawford KM, Zhu Y, Davis KA, Ernst S, Jacobsson K, Nishimi K, Smith ADAC, Dunn EC

An Exposure-Wide and Mendelian Randomization Approach to Identifying Modifiable Factors for the Prevention of Depression.

The American journal of psychiatry

Choi KW, Stein MB, Nishimi KM, Ge T, Coleman JRI, Chen CY, Ratanatharathorn A, Zheutlin AB, Dunn EC, 23andMe Research Team, Major Depressive Disorder Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, Breen G, Koenen KC, Smoller JW