Tuesday, May 12, 2026, 2:00 pm EDT
We know that positive emotions motivate us to pursue important goals, savor experiences, counteract the cardiovascular effects of stress, and maintain vital social bonds. However, a relatively untouched question remains: Can positive emotions also be a source of dysfunction in particular contexts, or when not appropriately managed? Dr. Gruber will discuss her lab's work to delineate the nature of positive emotion disturbance in people with and without a history of mood difficulties. By studying healthy people, people at risk for mood disorders, as well as adults and adolescents with mood disorders, she seeks to develop new ways of understanding positive mood disturbance as well as treatments to enhance emotional well-being and sustainable happiness.
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Presented by
Professor, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
University of Colorado Boulder
2019, 2013 Young Investigator Grant
Dr. June Gruber is Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and was previously an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Yale University. She received her Ph.D. and B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley. Her nationally recognized peer-reviewed research program includes over 150 articles and chapters and edited or co-edited two book volumes in Oxford University Press, focusing on positive emotion processes and reward disturbances in mood-disordered populations, with a recent emphasis on emerging adults.
Moderated by
Brain & Behavior Research Foundation
Jeffrey Borenstein, M.D., serves as the President & CEO of the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, the largest private funder of mental health research grants. Dr. Borenstein developed the Emmy-nominated public television program “Healthy Minds,” and serves as host and executive producer of the series. The program, broadcast nationwide, is available online, and focuses on topics in psychiatry in order to educate the public, reduce stigma and offer a message of hope. Dr. Borenstein served as Editor-in-Chief of Psychiatric News, the newspaper of the American Psychiatric Association from 2012 - 2023.
Dr. Borenstein is a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine and serves as the Chair of the Section of Psychiatry at the Academy. He also has served as the President of the New York State Psychiatric Association. Dr. Borenstein earned his undergraduate degree at Harvard and his medical degree at New York University.
