Biography
Dr. Sephton’s research has refined and tested scientific theories in three areas: mechanisms of mindfulness’ effects on clinical health outcomes, circadian disruption as a tumor promotor, and human-animal interaction as an ameliorative psychological factor.
She received her BS from the University of California at Davis in 1985. She served in the Cape Town South Africa LDS Mission from 1985-87. She received her MS in Human Physiology & Anatomy from Brigham Young University in 1989, and a PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience from BYU in 1995. She went on to Stanford University as an NIH-funded postdoctoral research fellow from 1995 to 1999, a mentee of Dr. David Spiegel in the Department of Psychiatry where she focused on psycho-oncology and psychoneuroimmunology among cancer patients. From 1999 to 2005, she held a joint position funded by the University of Louisville’s James Graham Brown Cancer Center and their School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry. There she became committed to translational mindfulness research: She led a research group along with a Clinical Psychologist collaborator, Dr. Paul Salmon, that confirmed the efficacy of mindfulness meditation for clinical symptom reduction in randomized controlled trials among 91 fibromyalgia patients and 18 Parkinson’s disease patient/caregiver dyads. In 2005, she transitioned to a position as Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Louisville. She joined the faculty at BYU in the Department of Psychology in July 2021.
Research Interests
Current ResearchDr. Sephton's current major project is a BYU-funded randomized trial of mindfulness training with first-generation undergraduate students. The trial measures salivary cortisol, inflammatory markers, and actigraphy-measured sleep alongside psychological outcomes to ask not only whether mindfulness helps, but how and for whom.
Contributions to Science
Cortisol rhythms and circadian disruption in cancer. Dr. Sephton's research showed that a flattened daily cortisol rhythm predicts earlier mortality in women with metastatic breast cancer. It was one of the first studies to link a stress-related biological rhythm to cancer survival. She later extended this finding to lung cancer and proposed circadian disruption as a pathway linking stress to cancer progression. More recent work showed that evening cortisol predicts progression-free survival in head and neck cancer.
Depression, inflammation, and cancer survival. Her group has studied how depressive symptoms relate to cortisol, immune function, systemic inflammation, and survival in patients with breast, head and neck, and lung cancer, identifying biological pathways through which distress may affect outcomes.
Randomized trials of mindfulness. She has led randomized clinical trials showing that mindfulness meditation reduces depressive and physical symptoms in women with fibromyalgia. A more recent pilot trial with people with Parkinson's disease and their caregiving partners measured distress, social support, cortisol, and inflammation. These trials provided early randomized evidence for mindfulness in clinical populations and included physiological outcomes alongside symptom reports.
How mindfulness affects stress physiology. Studies with university students and patient populations link mindfulness and self-compassion to lower stress, lower sympathetic arousal, healthier cortisol profiles, and greater well-being, helping identify the biological mechanisms through which mindfulness may work.
Biomarker measurement and research design. Dr. Sephton has directed a human biomarkers laboratory since 1999. Her methodological work on the variability and reliability of salivary cortisol gives researchers practical guidance on how many samples and days are needed for reliable measurement.
Biomarker Collaborations
Dr. Sephton's laboratory welcomes research collaborations with investigators who want to add biomarkers to their studies. The lab consults on study design and on collecting saliva and blood samples. Blood draws are done by experienced phlebotomists, and the lab processes, freezes, stores, and assays the samples. It is a Biosafety Level 2 facility with certified biological safety cabinets, refrigerated centrifuges, and −80°C freezers, and a trained technician supervises sample handling and assay preparation.
The lab runs ELISAs for steroid hormones and proteins on a Molecular Devices SpectraMax i3x microplate reader. It also operates the Meso Scale Discovery (MSD) electrochemiluminescence platform (https://www.mesoscale.com/en/technical_resources/our_technology/multi-array), which measures panels of cytokines and other proteins in a single, very small sample of saliva or blood. This makes MSD a good fit for studies where sample volume is limited or where several inflammatory markers are needed at once.
In its own studies, the lab uses actigraphy to measure sleep, circadian rhythms, and circadian disruption. Actigraphy also shows when participants woke and fell asleep, which helps validate the timing of waking and bedtime saliva samples for cortisol and other analytes.
The lab is not a core facility and does not offer fee-for-service testing. Its work with other investigators is collaborative, with lab members contributing as co-authors on publications that result. Investigators interested in collaborating may contact Dr. Sephton at sephton@byu.edu.
Teaching Interests
Dr. Sephton teaches Introductory Psychology (PSYCH 111), Multicultural Psychology (PSYCH 305), and Behavioral Neurobiology. Her courses emphasize active discussion, critical evaluation of research, and connections between foundational concepts and real-world health.Education
- NIH-Funded Postdoctoral Fellowship, Psycho-oncology, psychneuroendocrinology, psychoneuroimmunology , Stanford University School of Medicine (1999)
- PhD, Behavioral Neuroscience , Stress, Psychoneuroimmunology, Brigham Young University (1995)
- M.S., Human Physiology and Anatomy , Brigham Young University, Provo, UT (1989)
- BS, Animal Science , Pre-Vet, University of California (1985)
Professional Citizenship
- Reviewer, Ad Hoc Reviewer, PlosONE (2021 - 2021)