Prof. Dr. Gerdi Weidner

Dr. Weidner currently holds a Professorship at San Francisco State University (Biology) and has been Guest Professor of Psychology at the Johannes Gutenberg-University in Mainz, Germany, for more than 10 years (supported by DAAD, NATO, DFG, Eurotransplant, and a Humboldt Research Prize). From 2001 until 2009, she was Vice President and Director of Research at the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, CA, where she directed multidisciplinary research on behavioral and psychological influences on the progression of heart disease and cancer. From 1984 to 2001, she was Professor of Psychology and Preventive Medicine at the State University of New York at Stony Brook (now Stony Brook University). Dr. Weidner’s research examines the role of psychosocial and behavioral factors in the etiology and treatment of chronic diseases. Her primary focus is coronary heart disease (CHD). CHD is the leading cause of death in women and men worldwide. Although advances have been made over the past decades at identifying risk factors for CHD (e.g., elevated plasma cholesterol, hypertension, smoking), approximately half of all new cases of CHD cannot be accounted for by these standard risk factors. This indicates the necessity for broadening the search to include psychosocial factors (e.g., lifestyle/personality attributes, environmental characteristics, health behaviors) that might contribute to an improved understanding and, ultimately, control of CHD. As a Psychologist specializing in Behavioral Cardiology, Dr. Weidner has examines independent and joint contributions of psychological, social, and behavioral variables to coronary risk, including recurrent coronary events and heart failure. She is especially interested in gender differences and collaborates with investigators from a variety of disciplines (e.g., medicine, nutrition, public health, epidemiology). At the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, she initiated the multisite prospective study entitled ”Waiting for a New Heart” and works closely with Dr. Spaderna as well as investigators at Eurotransplant and the 17 participating study sites, including Prof. Dr. Münzel, Director of the 2. Medical Clinic at the Johannes Gutenberg-University. In addition to the above grant support for her research in Germany, her work has been funded by the NIH and the American Heart Association.

For more information please visit Prof. Weidner's website at SFSU.