Research
At the HEAL Lab, we’re learning how grief shapes the human experience and building supportive ways to help people heal.
Our work focuses on two essential goals:
Explore
We study how grief affects the mind, body, and spirit.
Restore
We design tools that help people process grief and begin to heal.
EXPLORE
Understanding grief as a holistic experience
Grief is an expression of love in another form — what we feel when someone or something we’re deeply connected to is no longer physically or emotionally present. Love doesn’t end, but changes, and we carry it in new ways. This kind of grief is part of everyday life, quietly woven into our shared human experience. It also guides our research into how grief moves through the mind, body, and spirit — how it works, and what might help.
We explore grief through three interconnected lenses:
Mind
We examine how grief affects emotional and psychological health, from shifts in mood and motivation to the way people cope over time. Our work explores concepts like living bereavement, loneliness, and how people adjust when their closest relationships are threatened or lost. We also look at how attachment orientation — a person’s style of connecting with others — might influence their grief response, and how people mentally reorganize their hierarchy of relationships after loss.
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Body
Grief doesn’t just affect how we feel emotionally— it affects how our bodies physically function. We examine biobehavioral mechanisms such as inflammation, heart rate variability, and other biomarkers to understand what’s happening under the skin as we grieve. This work helps reveal the physical consequences of prolonged stress and emotional strain associated with social loss.
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Spirit
Spirit can be defined in many different ways. When we use the term, we’re referring to the part of a person that seeks meaning, connection, and something beyond the self. For many, that meaning is shaped by spiritual beliefs — ideas about the afterlife, ongoing connection after death, or a larger purpose. We’re especially interested in how these beliefs influence the grieving process and how they may affect the mind and body, too.
RESTORE
Designing pathways to healing
The second pillar of our work focuses on building practical, supportive interventions that help people process grief and move toward healing. We design tools that are grief-informed, emotionally attuned, and grounded in science.
Whether it’s an expressive writing app for caregivers or new ways to support people through challenging times like the COVID-19 pandemic, our goal is to meet people where they are and help restore a sense of balance.
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