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Relive this lively discussion about the mind-body connection with Associate Professor Asya Rolls M.Sc.’02. An expert in sleep deprivation and brain research, Prof. Rolls explains how positive thinking can boost healing and immunity, impacting even the body’s ability to fight off cancer cells. Learn more about Prof. Rolls’ fascinating research by clicking the video above.
Asya Rolls is an associate professor in the Technion Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute-Wellcome international research scholar. She studies the physiological mechanisms whereby emotions and thoughts affect physical health. Her laboratory uses a combination of approaches to investigate how specific brain activity impacts the immune response. In one study, she showed that the release of the “feel-good” neurotransmitter dopamine disabled tumor-promoting cells in the immune system of mice, allowing them to fight cancer.
Prof. Rolls earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Technion Faculty of Biology and a Ph.D. from the Weizmann Institute of Science. She conducted postdoctoral work at Stanford University School of Medicine and joined the Technion in 2013. She has received the Adelis Brain Research Award, the Krill Prize, and the NARSAD Young Investigator Award, among others, for her work in brain research and sleep deprivation.