Esther Sternberg M.D.

Esther Sternberg, M.D., is internationally recognized for her discoveries in the science of mind-body interactions in illness and healing, and the role of place in wellbeing. A pioneer and major force in collaborative initiatives on mind-body-stress-wellness and environment interrelationships, her research takes mind-body science from molecules to the built and natural environment. She is Research Director, Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine and Founding Director of the University of Arizona Institute on Place, Wellbeing & Performance. She holds the Inaugural Andrew Weil Chair for Research in Integrative Medicine and is Professor of Medicine with joint appointments as Professor in Psychology, Architecture, and Planning & Landscape Architecture, and in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences School of Nutritional Sciences and Wellness, and is Research Director, UArizona Innovations in Healthy Aging. While a Senior Scientist and Section Chief at the National Institutes of Health (1986-2012), she directed the NIH Integrative Neural Immune Program, Co-Chaired the NIH Intramural Program on Research on Women’s Health, and chaired a sub-committee of the NIH Central Tenure Committee.

Dr. Sternberg’s three popular highly readable, informative, and scientifically based books are inspirations for lay persons and professionals alike, seeking answers to the complexities and 21st century frontiers of stress, place, healing, and wellness. Her upcoming book, Well at Work: Creating Wellbeing in Any Workspace (Little, Brown Spark, Sept. 5, 2023) takes mind-body design into the post-COVID workplace and helps anyone make their workspace a wellbeing one. Her two previous books, Healing Spaces: The Science of Place and Well-Being and The Balance Within: The Science Connecting Health and Emotions, are landmarks in their fields. Healing Spaces: The Science of Place and Well-Being was recognized by the President of the American Institute of Architects as an inspiration for launching the AIA’s Design and Health Initiative and has inspired implementation of healing spaces in hospitals across the country and around the world.

She has published over 240 scientific articles, edited 10 technical books, co-created and hosted the PBS Television Special, The Science of Healing with Dr. Esther Sternberg, and is frequently interviewed in the lay media, including on CBS 60 Minutes Overtime. For her contributions to science and medicine, she has received the Federal Government’s highest awards, including the Department of Health and Human Services Public Health Service Superior Service Award and the FDA Commissioner’s Special Citation, was recognized by the National Library of Medicine as one of the women who “Changed the Face of Medicine” and served as member and Chair of NLM’s Board of Regents. She has advised the World Health Organization; the U.S. National Academy of Sciences; the Royal Society, London; the Vatican, where she was presented to Pope Benedict XVI, and has briefed high level U.S. Federal Government officials including the Surgeon General, National Institutes of Health leadership, the Department of Defense, and the United States Congress on topics of stress and illness and place and wellbeing.