Randolph Martin Nesse (born July 10, 1948) is an American
physician
A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...
, scientist and author who is notable for his role as a founder of the field of
evolutionary medicine
Evolutionary medicine or Darwinian medicine is the application of modern evolutionary theory to understanding health and disease. Modern biomedical research and practice have focused on the molecular and physiological mechanisms underlying hea ...
and
evolutionary psychiatry
Evolutionary psychiatry, also known as Darwinian Psychiatry, is a theoretical approach to psychiatry that aims to explain psychiatric disorders in evolutionary terms. As a branch of the field of evolutionary medicine, it is distinct from the medic ...
.
Education and career
Nesse studied at
Carleton College
Carleton College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1866, the main campus is between Northfield and the approximately Carleton ...
from 1966 to 1970. He went on to receive his M.D. at the
University of Michigan Medical School
The University of Michigan Medicine (branded as Michigan Medicine) is the academic medical center of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It consists of the university's Medical School, affiliated hos ...
in 1974 and carried out his medical residency at the same place. Nesse became an instructor in psychiatry at the
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
in 1977 and became an assistant professor there in psychiatry in 1979. He became associate professor in psychiatry in 1985 and professor in psychiatry in 1993 at
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
, where he was also a professor of psychology since 2001. Nesse became
professor emeritus
''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus".
...
at Michigan at the end of 2013.
Since 2014, Nesse became professor of life sciences and ASU Foundation Professor at
Arizona State University
Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...
, where he became the Founding Director of the Center for Evolution and Medicine. He was previously a professor of psychiatry, professor of psychology and research professor at the University of Michigan where he led the Evolution and Human Adaptation Program and helped to establish one of the world's first
anxiety
Anxiety is an emotion characterised by an unpleasant state of inner wikt:turmoil, turmoil and includes feelings of dread over Anticipation, anticipated events. Anxiety is different from fear in that fear is defined as the emotional response ...
disorders clinics and conducted research on neuroendocrine responses to fear.
Research
Nesse's research on the evolution of aging led to a long collaboration with the evolutionary biologist
George C. Williams. Their co-authored book, ''Why We Get Sick: The New Science of Darwinian Medicine'', inspired fast growth of the field of evolutionary medicine. His subsequent research has focused on how natural selection shapes mechanisms that regulate pain, fever, anxiety, low mood, and why emotional disorders are so common. He also has written extensively about the evolutionary origins of moral emotions, and strategies for establishing evolutionary biology as a basic science for medicine. ''Good Reasons for Bad Feelings: Insights from the Frontier of Evolutionary Psychiatry'' applies the principles of evolutionary medicine to mental disorders.
Nesse was the initial organizer and second president of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, and is currently the president of the International Society for Evolution, Medicine & Public Health. He is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the
American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the largest psychiatric organization in the world. It has more than 39,200 members who are in ...
, a Fellow of the
Association for Psychological Science
The Association for Psychological Science (APS), previously the American Psychological Society, is an international non-profit organization whose mission is to promote, protect, and advance the interests of scientifically oriented psychology in r ...
, and an elected Fellow of the AAAS.
Bibliography
Books and chapters
*Nesse, R. M., & Williams, G. C. (1995). ''Why We Get Sick''. New York: Times Books.
*Nesse, R. M. (1999). "Testing evolutionary hypotheses about mental disorders." In S. Stearns (Ed.), ''Evolution in Health and Disease'' (pp. 260–266). New York: Oxford University Press.
*Nesse, R. M., & Williams, G. C. (1999). "Research designs that address evolutionary questions about medical disorders." In S. Stearns (Ed.), ''Evolution in Health and Disease'' (pp. 16–26). New York: Oxford University Press.
"Is the market on Prozac?", February 28, 2000 Stanford University Press*Nesse, Randolph M (Ed.). (2001). Evolution and the capacity for commitment. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
*Nesse, Randolph M, & Dawkins, R. (2010). Evolution: Medicine's most basic science. In D. A. Warrell, T. M. Cox, J. D. Firth, & E. J. J. Benz (Eds.), Oxford Textbook of Medicine, 5th edition (pp. 12–15). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Papers
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References
External links
Experts List - University of Michigan*
ttps://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9800E0D8163FF932A35751C0A9669C8B63 "Viewing Depression As Tool for Survival", By ERICA GOODE, New York Times, February 1, 2000*http://sites.google.com/site/evolutionarymedicine/home/texts/text4
*https://sols.asu.edu/people/randolph-m-nesse
*http://evmed.asu.edu/
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nesse, Randolph M.
1948 births
Living people
American evolutionary biologists
Evolutionary psychologists
21st-century American biologists
21st-century American psychologists
American psychiatrists
University of Michigan faculty
University of Michigan Medical School alumni
20th-century American psychologists
Carleton College alumni
Arizona State University faculty
Fellows of the Association for Psychological Science
20th-century American biologists
20th-century American physicians
21st-century American physicians