As he walked off the plane from an out-of-state conference, David Fresco, Ph.D., professor in ’s Department of Psychological Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences, got an unexpected call.
“It was so out of the blue,” Dr. Fresco says. “I was humbled.”
Dr. Fresco received the Outstanding Research and Scholarship Award last April for his research finding nonmedical ways to reduce high blood pressure (HBP).
“It was a really gracious honor,” Dr. Fresco says. “When I gave my acceptance speech, I really tried to honor the many students and postdoctorates I worked with because they helped me so much.”
Dr. Fresco says his general research focused on whether meditation is a good tool to help strengthen people and make them better at overcoming emotional disorders.
“We believe people can learn ways of improving their lifestyle, so they can reduce medical conditions like HBP without medication,” Dr. Fresco says.
Dr. Fresco says they are on their fourth out of five years of research for this project, with personnel primarily at , University Hospitals in Cleveland and the University of Pennsylvania.
“We want to have a good chance of recruiting a democratically diverse sample," Dr. Fresco says. “We want to ensure we include ethnic minorities in this study.”
A previous Outstanding Research and Scholarship awardee, Professor Joel Hughes, Ph.D., in the Department of Psychological Sciences, nominated Dr. Fresco for the award. Dr. Hughes stated in his nomination that in his 16 years at , Dr. Fresco has enjoyed great professional success, and Dr. Fresco's work has reflected well on the university.
“Dr. Fresco has published 74 peer-reviewed publications in high-impact venues with journal impact factors,” Dr. Hughes states. “These works have accumulated an h-index ranging from 30 (Web of Science) to 42 (Google Scholar), placing him above the 95th percentile of all Psychology Full Professors in the U.S.”
Dr. Fresco plans to continue his research to try and find the best ways to treat anxiety and depression and even identify changes in the brain during psychotherapy.
To learn more about Dr. Fresco and his research, visit .