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Prof. Avitsur-Hamiel Ronit
Fields of Research
Prof. Avitsur-Hamiel Ronit
School of Behavioral Sciences

Avitsur@mta.ac.il

  • Psychoneuroimmunology

  • Stress

  • Chronic illness

  • Gender

  • Psychological resources

Short Bio

Ronit Avitsur-Hamiel completed her PhD at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and continued her training at the Laboratory of NeuroEndocrine Immunology at the Ohio State University under the supervision of Dr. John F. Sheridan. She was appointed as a full professor in 2018.

Prof. Avitsur-Hamiel focused her research on the study of mind-body interactions. Her main interests are individual differences in the response to stress and illness. She is particularly interested in understanding personality-related factors and gender differences affecting the response to stress and disease. More recently, Prof. Avitsur-Hamiel studied resources and strengths affecting psychological distress associated with chronic illness.

Selected Publications

Selected recent publications:

1. Avitsur, R. Levy, S., Goren, N., Grinshpahet R. Early adversity, immunity and infectious disease. Stress. Feb 27, 1-8, 2015.

2. Avitsur, R. Levy, S., Grinshpahet R., Goren, N., Hirsh O., Zalko, A. Prenatal fluoxetine exposure affects cytokine and behavioral response to an immune challenge. Journal of Neuroimmunology, 284, 49-56, 2015.

3. Svirsky, N., Levy, S., Avitsur R. Prenatal Exposure to Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI) Increases Aggression and Modulates Maternal Behavior in Offspring Mice. Developmental Psychobiology, 58(1), 71-82, 2015.

4. Ulmer-Yaniv, A., Avitsur, R., Kanat-Maymon, Y., Schneiderman, I., Zagoory-Sharon, O., Feldman, R. Affiliation, reward, and immune biomarkers coalesce to support social synchrony during periods of bond formation in humans. Brain Behavior and Immunity, 56, 130-139, 2016.

5. Avitsur, R., Grinshpahet R., Goren, N., Weinstein, I., Chlebowski, N., Kirshenboim, O., Prenatal SSRI alters the hormonal and behavioral responses to stress in female mice: possible role for glucocorticoid resistance. Hormones and Behavior, 84, 41-49, 2016.

6. Avitsur, R., Increased sickness behavior following prenatal stress: Can it be prevented by fluoxetine? Behavioural Brain Research, 317, 62-70, 2017.

7. Heruti, I., Levy, S., Avitsur, R. Physical Injury, Health, and Well-Being: Moderating Role of Stress Perception. Injury. 2018. pii: S0020-1383(18)30317-6. doi: 10.1016/j.injury.2018.06.022.

8. Levy, S., Heruti, I., Avitsur, R. Physical Injury, Stress and Health: Protective Role of Dispositional Optimism. Stress and Health. 2019 Aug;35(3):267-276. doi: 10.1002/smi.2859.

9. Shiloh, S., Levy, S., Heruti, I., Avitsur, R. Health-Related Quality of Life after Injury: Examining the Roles of Perceived Daily-Life Stress and Injury Perceptions. Quality of Life Research. 2020, 29(11), 3053-3063. 10.1007/s11136-020-02548-9.

10. Geller, S., Levy, S., Ashkeloni, S., Roeh, B., Sbiet, E., & Avitsur, R. 2021. Predictors of Psychological Distress in Women with Endometriosis: The Role of Multimorbidity, Body Image, and Self-Criticism. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(7), 3453. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18073453

11. Geller, S., Levy, S., Mann, Y., Sela, S., Rafenberg, G., & Avitsur, R. 2022. Body appreciation as a protective factor in women with fibromyalgia: an examination of associations between pain perception, social comparison and psychological distress. Clinical and experimental rheumatology, 40(6), 1166–1174. https://doi.org/10.55563/clinexprheumatol/2otrk6

12. Levy, S., Avitsur, R. 2022. Gender Differences in The Development of Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms Following Pregnancy Loss: Social Support and Causal Attributes. Psychological Studies. In Press.

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