MichaelV.Stanton, Ph.D. Faculty Profile

Photo of Michael Stanton

Michael  V.  Stanton, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

What makes me unique

Dr. Stanton is a licensed Clinical Health Psychologist and Associate Professor of Public Health at ÍÑ¿ã°É, East Bay. Dr. Stanton’s research examines how stress affects health, with a particular focus on weight management and cardiovascular disease, and his clinical work integrates Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT) to treat both mental and physical health problems. 

Dr. Stanton is also a guest contributor to several news stations including ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, NPR, the SF Chronicle and other media, where he adds psychology and public health expertise to the analysis of current events. 

He completed his postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University School of Medicine, his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, with a focus in Behavioral Medicine, from Duke University, and his B.A. from Brown University.

  • Post-Doctoral Fellowship, WRIISC (focus: Behavioral Medicine), Veterans Affairs Palo Alto / Stanford University Medical SchoolCertificate, Ignite Program, Stanford University Graduate School of BusinessPh.D., Duke University, Clinical Psychology (focus: Behavioral Medicine)Pre-doctoral Internship, Clinical Psychology (focus:Behavioral Medicine), Veterans Affairs Palo Alto (Stanford University affiliate) B.A., Brown University (Double Maj: Psychology and Africana Studies)

  • Spring Semester 2026

    Course #SecCourse TitleDaysFromToLocationCampus
    PH 35501BioethicsMW2:00PM3:15PMSC-N112Hayward Campus
    PH 13002Health HumanitiesMW11:00AM12:15PMVBT-0219Hayward Campus
    PH 13001Health HumanitiesMW9:30AM10:45AMVBT-0219Hayward Campus
    PH 49908Capstone in Health SciencesMW3:30PM4:45PMSC-S302Hayward Campus

  • SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

    • (I served as section chair on the paper). Chung, S. T., Harrington, J., Kandula, N. R., Kershaw, K. N., Mongraw-Chaffin, M., Baah, F. O., ... & American Heart Association Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health; Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing; Council on Clinical Cardiology; and Council on Quality of Care and Outcomes Research. (2026). Socioeconomic and Structural Barriers to Addressing Obesity in Communities: A Scientific Statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation.
    • Baumer, Y., Tirado, B. A., Ortiz-Whittingham, L. R., Baez, A. S., Gutierrez-Huerta, C. A., Mendelsohn, L. G., ... & Powell-Wiley, T. M. (2025). Loneliness associates with endothelial dysfunction in a community-based cohort: a pilot study and translational approach. npj Cardiovascular Health, 2(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44325-025-00059-5
    • Sawyer, M., Stanton, M. V., Southerland, A. C., Kelly, C. N., & Gutierrez, L. (2025). A Systematic Review Evaluating the Efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Interventions on Reducing Stress in Hispanic/Latino/a/x College Students. Mindfulness, 1-29.
    • Mezuk, B., Sin, N. L., Stanton, M. V., Szabo, Y. Z., Tomiyama, A. J. White, K. E. (2023). The American Psychosomatic Society Antiracism Task Force: Implementation, Activities, and Lessons Learned. Psychosomatic Medicine. Jul-Aug 01;85(6):466-473. doi: 10.1097/PSY.0000000000001222
    • Jonassaint, C. R., O'Brien, J., Nardo, E., Feldman, R., Stanton, M., DeCastro, L., & Abebe, K. Z. (2022). Prevalence of Substance Use Disorders in Sickle Cell Disease Compared to Other Chronic Conditions: a Population-Based Study of Black American Adults. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 10.1007/s11606-022-07786-w. Advance online publication.
    • Stanton, M. V., Jones, A., & Shahani, D. (2022). Relationship among interpersonal stressors in
      adolescence, social support buffers, and obesity in adulthood 14 years later. Health Psychology, 41(12), 904.
      https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0001223
    • Keng, S.-L. (co-first authors), Stanton, M. V., (co-first authors), Haskins, L. B., Almenara, C. A., Ickovics, J., Jones, A., Grigsby-Toussaint, D., Agostini, M., Bélanger, J. J., Gützkow, B., Kreienkamp, J., Lemay, E. P.,vanDellen, M. R., Abakoumkin, G., Khaiyom, J. H. A., Ahmedi, V., Akkas, H., Atta, M., Bagci, S. C., … Leander, N. P. (2022). COVID-19 stressors and health behaviors: A multilevel longitudinal study across 86 countries. Preventive Medicine Reports, 27, 101764.
    • Cuevas, A. G., Stanton, M. V., Carvalho, K., Eckert, N., Ortiz, K., Assari, S., & Ransome, Y. (2021). Stressful Life Events and Obesity in the United States: The Role of Nativity and Length of Residence. American Journal of Health Promotion.
    • Breland, J. Y., Stanton, M. V. (2021). Anti-Black racism and behavioral medicine: confronting the past to envision the future. Translational Behavioral Medicine.
    • Bayley, P. J., Schulz-Heik, R. J., Cho, R., Mathersul, D., Collery, L., Shankar, K., Ashford, J. W., Jennings, J., Tang, J., Wong, M. S., Avery, T. J., Stanton, M.V., Meyer, H., Friedman, M., Kim, S., Jo, B., Younger, J., Mathews, B., Majmundar, M., & Mahoney, L. (2020). Yoga is effective in treating symptoms of Gulf War illness: A randomized clinical trial. Journal of Psychiatric Research.
    • Moore, M. D., Ali, S., Burnich-Line, D., Gonzales, W., & Stanton, M. V. (senior corresponding author) (2020). Stigma, Opioids, and Public Health Messaging: The Need to Disentangle Behavior From Identity. American Journal of Public Health, 110(6), 807-810. doi:10.2105/ajph.2020.305628 
    • Breland, J. Y., Stanton, M. V. (2020) Should we give up on motivational interviewing? Not so fast. Heart. Published Online First: 07 January 2020. doi: 10.1136/heartjnl-2019-316170
    • Oppezzo M. A., Stanton, M. V., Garcia, A., Rigdon, J., Berman, J. R., Gardner, C. D. (2019) To text or not to text: electronic message intervention to improve treatment adherence versus matched historical controls. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 7(4), e11720. URL: https://mhealth.jmir.org/2019/4/e11720. DOI: 10.2196/11720. PMID: 30964436
    • Offringa, L. C., Stanton, M. V., Hauser, M. E., & Gardner, C. D. (2018). Fruits and Vegetables Versus Vegetables and Fruits: Rhyme and Reason for Word Order in Health Messages. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine.
    • Stanton, M. V., & Smith, J. A. (2017). Law, Stigma, and Meaning: Implications for Obesity and HIV Prevention. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 45(4), 492–501.
    • Stanton, M. V., et al. (2017). DIETFITS Study (Diet Intervention Examining The Factors Interacting with
      Treatment Success) – Study Design and Methods. Contemporary Clinical Trials. Feb; 53: 151-161.
    • Templeton, E. M., Stanton, M. V., & Zaki, J. (2016). Social norms shift preferences for healthy and unhealthy foods. PLoS ONE, 11(11), e0166286.
    • Stanton, M. V., Matsuura, J., Fairchild, J. K., Lohnberg, J. A., & Bayley, P. J. (2016). Mindfulness as a Weight Loss  Treatment for Veterans. Frontiers in Nutrition, 3, 30.
    • Stanton, M. V., Jonassaint, C. J., Bartholomew, F. B., Edwards, C., Richman, L., DeCastro, L., & Williams, R.  B. (2010) The association of optimism and perceived discrimination with health care utilization in adults with sickle cell disease. Journal of the National Medical Association. 102(11):1056-63.
    • Stanton, M. V., Jonassaint, C. J., Williams, R. B., & James, S. A. (2010). Socioeconomic status moderates the  association between John Henryism and NEO PI-R personality domains. Psychosomatic Medicine, 72(2):141-7.
    • Belsky, J., Jonassaint, C., Pluess, M., Stanton, M., Brummett, B., & Williams, R.B. (2009). Vulnerability  Genes or Plasticity Genes? Molecular Psychiatry. 14(8), 746-54.
    • Shaffer, H. J., LaPlante, D. A., LaBrie, R. A., Kidman, R. C., Donato, A., & Stanton, M. V. (2004). Toward a  Syndrome Model of Addiction: Multiple Manifestations, Common Etiology. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 12(6), 367-374.
    • Wittenburg. K., Lanning T., Heinrichs M., Stanton, M. Parallel Bargrams for Consumer-based Information  Exploration and Choice. In Proceedings of the ACM Symposium on User Interface Systems and Technology, (UIST '01). Orlando, Florida, Nov. 2001, pp. 51-60.