Current Position

Position: Associated Faculty

Biography

Margaret A. Chesney is a Distinguished Emeritus Professor Medicine in the Department of Medicine at UCSF. From 2010 to 2015, she served as the director of the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Health. Dr. Chesney’s career in integrative health includes her work as the Deputy and Acting Director of the National Institutes of Health’s Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). Prior to her work at the NIH, Dr. Chesney was Professor of Medicine at UCSF where she also served as the co-director of the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies and the director of the Behavioral Medicine & Epidemiology Core of the UCSF Center for AIDS Research.

Dr. Chesney has conducted research on the relationship between behavior and chronic disease, particularly in identifying risk factors for developing disease and creating psychosocial interventions to address them. The focus of her recent work has been on the role the individual can play in the promotion of personal health, prevention of disease, and the maintenance of optimal well-being across the lifespan. In this work, she has often emphasized the health challenges faced by women, seniors, and the underserved, and designed interventions to support them.

In 2007, she was named one of the outstanding women leaders by the American Psychological Association and in 2008 was included on the list of Women in Science at the NIH. Dr. Chesney has held national leadership positions including president of the Society for Health Psychology, the American Psychosomatic Society, and the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research. She has also served as the Chair of the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health.

A member of the National Academy of Medicine, she has served on several its committees, include the recent one on Transforming Health Care to Create Whole Health. She also serves on the Advisory Board of the Susan and Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences.

Dr. Chesney has twice received the Annual Award for Outstanding Contributions to the APA Division of Health Psychology. Her other awards include Charles C. Shepard Science Award from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Director’s Award for work in Mind-Body Medicine from the director of the NCCIH, the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Society of Behavioral Medicine, and the President’s Award from our Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research. She has over 350 scientific publications and received an honorary doctorate from her Alma mater, Whitman College.

Degrees

1976

Other, Phychiatry, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

1975

Ph.D., Counseling-Clinical Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States

1974

B.A., Psychology and Sociology, Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington, United States

M.S., Counseling-Clinical Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States

Scholarly Contributions and Creative Productions

Journal Article

Completed/Published

Chesney, Margaret, F.m Nicosia, J.a Lee, C Benjamin, A.n Lee, W Mehling, R.l Sudore, and D.e Barnes. 2023. “Adaptation of an In-Person Mind-Body Movement Program for People with Cognitive Impairment of Dementia and Care Partners for Online Delivery: Feasibility, Satisfaction and Participant Reported Outcomes.” Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health, 1–14.

Chesney, Margaret, C.j Siwik, K Jhaveri, J.a Cohen, B.a Barulich, A Chang, A.o Levin, N.g Goyal, M Melisko, and D Shumay. 2023. “Survivorship Wellness: A Multidisciplinary Group Program for Cancer Survivors.” Supportive Care in Cancer.

Chesney, Margaret, A Huang, M Schembri, S Pawlowsky, F Nicosia, and L.l Subak. 2022. “Rapid Conversion of a Group-Based Yoga Trial for Diverse Older Women to Home-Based Telehealth: Lessons Learned Using Zoom to Deliver Movement-Based Interventions.” Journal of Integrative and Complementary Medicine.

Chesney, Margaret, N Schneiderman, R.b William, R.d Lane, and H Deter. 2021. “A Tribute to Kristina Orth-Gomer: An Outstanding Scientist for Women’s Health in Behavioral and Psychosomatic Medicine.” Psychosomatic Medicine.

Chesney, Margaret, L Vuppaladhadiam, J Lager, O Fiehn, S Weiss, B Hasdemir, and A Bhargava. 2021. “Human Placenta Puffers the Fetus from Adverse Effects of Perceived Maternal Stress.” Cells 10:379.

Chesney, Margaret, L.l Chao, J.a Lee, S Martinez, C Barlow, W.e Mehling, and D.e Barnes. 2021. “Preventing Loss of Independence through Exercise (PLIÉ): A Pilot Trial in Older Adults with Subjective Memory Decline and Mild Cognitive Impairment.” Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Chesney, Margaret, D.e Anderson, A.n Reeves, and W.e Mehling. 2021. “Capnometric Feedback Training Decreases 24-h Blood Pressure in Hypertensive Women.” BMC Cardiovascular Disorders 21:447–55.

Chesney, Margaret, W.e Mehling, T.m Scott, J Duffy, R.a Whitmer, J. W Boscardin, and D.e Barnes. 2020. “Dyadic Group Exercises for Persons with Memory Deficits and Care Partners: Mixed-Method Findings from the Paired Preventing Loss of Independence through Exercise (PLIÉ) Randomized Trial.” Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, September, 953203.

Chesney, Margaret, and D.e Anderson. 2020. “Integrative Medicine.”

Chesney, Margaret, K Jhavier, J.a Cohen, M Barulich, A.o Levin, N Goyal, T Loveday, and D Shumay. 2020. “Soup Cans, Brooms, and Zoom: Rapid Conversion of a Cancer Survivorship Program to Telehealth during COVID-19.” Psycho-Oncology.

Chesney, Margaret, J Cohen, D Shumay, N Goyal, M Barulich, and A.o Levin. 2019. “Survivorship Wellness: Insights from an Interdisciplinary Group-Based Survivorship Pilot Program at a Comprehensive Cancer Center.” Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

Chesney, Margaret, C Miaskowski, K Topp, Y.p Conley, S.m Paul, M Melisko, M Schumacher, G Abrams, J.d Levine, and K.m Kober. 2019. “Perturbations in Neuroinflammatory Pathways Are Associated with Paclitaxel-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy in Breast Cancer Survivors,” 1–7.

Chesney, Margaret, M Mazor, S.m Paul, L.m Chen, B Smoot, K Topp, Y.p Conley, J.d Levine, and C Miaskowski. 2019. “Perceived Stress Is Associated with a Higher Symptom Burden in Cancer Survivors.” Cancer 125:4509–15.

Margaret Chesney, PhD

Fall 1980 - Fall 2120