Eric Loucks

About

Eric B. Loucks, PhD, is a Professor of Epidemiology, Medicine, and Behavioral and Social Sciences at Brown University. He is a researcher and innovator specializing in the study of mindfulness and health, serving as the Director of the Mindfulness Center at Brown. Dr. Loucks is known for developing programs such as the Mindfulness-Based College for Young Adults (MB-College) and the Mindfulness-Based Blood Pressure Reduction (MB-BP), both of which have been evaluated through NIH-funded randomized controlled trials. His research focuses on mindfulness epidemiology methods, evidence synthesis, and implementation science, with a particular interest in how mindfulness interventions impact cardiovascular health, mental health, and social determinants of health. Over his career, he has held teaching positions at Harvard, McGill, and Brown Universities, and his work has been widely disseminated through major media outlets and presentations to governmental bodies.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Psychotherapist
• Medicine
• Political Science
• Clinical psychology
• Computer Science
• Social psychology
• Psychiatry
• Internal medicine
• Knowledge management

Selected publications

• Mindfulness and Behavior Change

  Harvard Review of Psychiatry · 2020 · 399 citations

  Initiating and maintaining behavior change is key to the prevention and treatment of most preventable chronic medical and psychiatric illnesses. The cultivation of mindfulness, involving acceptance and nonjudgment of present-moment experience, often results in transformative health behavior change. Neural systems involved in motivation and learning have an important role to play. A theoretical model of mindfulness that integrates these mechanisms with the cognitive, emotional, and self-related p…

  DOI

• Mindfulness-Based Programs: Why, When, and How to Adapt?

  Global Advances in Health and Medicine · 2022 · 103 citations

  1st authorCorresponding

  This paper provides a framework for understanding why, when and how to adapt mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) to specific populations and contexts, based on research that developed and adapted multiple MBPs. In doing so, we hope to support teachers, researchers and innovators who are considering adapting an MBP to ensure that changes made are necessary, acceptable, effective, cost-effective, and implementable. Specific questions for reflection are provided such as (1) Why is an adaptation neede…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Mindfulness and cardiovascular health: Qualitative findings on mechanisms from the mindfulness-based blood pressure reduction (MB-BP) study

  PLoS ONE · 2020 · 41 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  BACKGROUND: Mindfulness-based programs hold promise for improving cardiovascular health (e.g. physical activity, diet, blood pressure). However, despite theoretical frameworks proposed, no studies have reported qualitative findings on how study participants themselves believe mindfulness-based programs improved their cardiovascular health. With an emphasis on in-depth, open-ended investigation, qualitative methods are well suited to explore the mechanisms underlying health outcomes. The objectiv…

  DOI

• Optimism and Social Support Predict Healthier Adult Behaviors Despite Socially Disadvantaged Childhoods

  International Journal of Behavioral Medicine · 2020 · 36 citations

  DOI

• Effect of Adapted Mindfulness Training in Participants With Elevated Office Blood Pressure: The MB‐BP Study: A Randomized Clinical Trial

  Journal of the American Heart Association · 2023-05-23 · 25 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Background Hypertension is a leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Despite availability of effective lifestyle and medication treatments, blood pressure (BP) is poorly controlled in the United States. Mindfulness training may offer a novel approach to improve BP control. The objective was to evaluate the effects of Mindfulness-Based Blood Pressure Reduction (MB-BP) versus enhanced usual care control on unattended office systolic BP. Methods and Results Methods included a parallel-group…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant RC2AG036666

  NIH · $1.7M · 2012

• Mindfulness Influences on Self-Regulation: Mental and Physical Health Implications

  NIH · $2.4M · 2015–2021

• NIH Grant R01AG048825

  NIH · $277k · 2017

Frequent coauthors

• Charles B. Eaton

  Kent Hospital

  167 shared

• Stephen L. Buka

  158 shared

• Judson A. Brewer

  Providence College

  140 shared

• Carl Fulwiler

  Harvard University

  129 shared

• Richa Gawande

  Harvard University

  127 shared

• David R. Vago

  126 shared

• Sara W. Lazar

  125 shared

• Julie P. Dunne

  Boston College

  121 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Epidemiology

  Brown University

• M.D.

  Brown University

• M.A.

  McGill University

• B.A.

  Harvard University

Similar researchers at Brown University

• Bess Marcush-118
• David Williamsh-108
• Damaris Rohsenowh-97