Eric B. Loucks, PhD, is a professor, researcher, speaker, and pioneer in the study of mindfulness and health. As director of the Mindfulness Center at Brown University, one of the premier research- and education-focused mindfulness centers in the world, Loucks teaches mindfulness-based interventions and leads high-quality, methodologically rigorous research to investigate the science behind mindfulness and its impact on health and well-being. An expert in aging-related research, he optimizes mindfulness programs to specific age groups. He is the lead developer of Mindfulness-Based College (MBC), and has received numerous research grants from the National Institutes of Health to evaluate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions, including MBC and MB-BP (Mindfulness-Based Blood Pressure Reduction). Over the course of his career, he has held teaching positions at Harvard, McGill, and Brown Universities. Loucks has practiced mindfulness for about 25 years and received ordination in the Vietnamese Zen tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh.
What Dr. Loucks Does
Past Experiences
Associate Professor (with tenure), Brown University School of Public Health (2017 – 2021)
Director, Mindfulness Center at Brown University (2016 – 2017)
Assistant Professor, Brown University School of Public Health (2009-2017)
Assistant Professor, McGill University (2017 – 2019)
Instructor, T.H. Chan Harvard School of Public Health (2003-2006)
Example Publications
Loucks EB, Britton WB, Howe CJ, Eaton CB, Buka SL. Positive associations of dispositional mindfulness with cardiovascular health: The New England Family Study. Int J Behav Med. 2015 Aug; 22(4): 540-550.
Loucks EB, Schuman-Olivier Z, Britton WB, Fresco DM, Desbordes G, Brewer JA, Fulwiler C. Mindfulness and cardiovascular disease risk: State of the evidence, plausible mechanisms, and theoretical framework. Curr Cardiol Rep. 2015 Dec; 17(12): 112.
Loucks EB, Britton WB, Howe CJ, Gutman R, Gilman SG, Brewer J, Eaton CB, Buka SL. Associations of dispositional mindfulness with obesity and central adiposity: The New England Family Study. Int J Behav Med. 2016 Apr;23(2):224-33. PMCID: PMC4965799
Loucks EB, Gilman SE, Britton WB, Gutman R, Eaton CB, Buka SL. Associations of dispositional mindfulness with glucose regulation and type 2 diabetes: The New England Family Study. Am J Health Behav. 2016; 40(2): 258-267.
Loucks EB, Nardi WR, Gutman R, Kronish IM, Saadeh FB, Li Y, Webb J, Vago DR, Harrison A, Britton WB. Mindfulness-Based Blood Pressure Reduction (MB-BP): Stage 1 Single-Arm Clinical Trial. PLoS ONE. 2019. 14(11): e0223095. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0223095
Schuman-Olivier Z, Trombka M, Lovas D, Brewer J, Vago DR, Gawande R, Dunne JP, Lazar SW, Loucks EB, Fulwiler C. Mindfulness and behavior change. Harv Rev Psychiatry. 2020 Nov/Dec;28(6):371-394.
Nardi WR, Harrison A, Saadeh FB, Webb J, Wentz AE, Loucks EB. Mindfulness and Cardiovascular Health: Qualitative Mechanism Evidence from the Mindfulness-Based Blood Pressure Reduction (MB-BP) Study. PLOS ONE. 2020 Sep 23;15(9):e0239533.
Loucks EB, Nardi WR, Gutman R, Saadeh FB, Li Y, Vago DR, Fiske LB, Spas JJ, Harrison A. Mindfulness-Based College: A Stage 1 Randomized Controlled Trial for Emerging Adult Well-Being. Psychosom Med. 2021 Jul-Aug 01;83(6):602-614. doi: 10.1097/PSY.0000000000000860.
Hoge EA, Acabchuk RL, Kimmel H, Moitra E, Britton W, Dumais T, Ferrer RA, Lazar SW, Vago D, Lipsky J, Schuman-Olivier Z, Cheaito A, Sager L, Peters S, Rahrig H, Acero P, Scharf J, Loucks EB, Fulwiler C. Emotion-related processes engaged by mindfulness-based interventions: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Mindfulness. 2021 May;12(5):1041-1062.
Loucks EB, Rosenkranz MA, Creswell JD [all authors contributed equally]. Harnessing life’s slings and arrows: The science and opportunities for mindfulness meditation during a global pandemic and beyond. Psychosom Med. 2021 Jul-Aug 01;83(6):497-502. doi: 10.1097/PSY.0000000000000961.
Sun S, Goldberg S, Loucks EB, Brewer JA. Mindfulness-Based Interventions among people of color: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychother Res. 2021 Jun 7:1-14. doi: 10.1080/10503307.2021.1937369.
Sun S, Sheridan M, Tyrka A, Donofry SD, Erickson K, Loucks EB. Addressing the biological embedding of early life adversities (ELA) among adults through mindfulness: Proposed mechanisms and review of converging evidence. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2022. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104526About
