Julie Downs
Bio
Julie S. Downs, Ph.D. is a professor of Psychology and Decision Science and Associate Dean of Research. She is director of the Center for Risk Perception and Communication. She has served on the editorial board of Psychological Science, as associate editor at Developmental Review, on numerous grant review panels for the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation, and on the institutional review boards at CMU and at Disney Research.
Research Interests
Dr. Downs studies social influences on decisions, particularly the impact of social norms, with the goal of helping people improve their decisions and outcomes. She has created behavioral interventions that have been shown in scientific studies to change behavior and have gained wide use in real-world settings. Her research focuses on domains involving risky behavior, including adolescent sexual decision making, choices about food, behaviors relating to trust and privacy online, vaccination, and other settings. Her research has been published in psychological, economic, public policy and medical journals, and her interventions have won numerous awards including two Platinum Remi Awards at the Houston Worldfest International Film Festival, as well as multiple Aurora Awards, Telly Awards, and others.
Education
- Princeton University, Social Psychology, MS, PhD
- University of California at Berkeley, Psychology, AB
Publications
Lab Manager
Mandy B. Lanyon
Research Associate II
Social and Decision Sciences
Current Ph.D. Students
Trent Cash
Fourth-year Ph.D. student in Social and Decision Sciences.
Wenzhuo Xu
Fourth-year Ph.D. student in Social and Decision Sciences.
Ph.D. Alumni
Alison Butler
Samantha Horn
Stephanie Permut
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Haley Hirokawa
Class of 2027, Undeclared
Gavin Kelly
Class of 2027, Behavioral Economics
Hannah Park
Class of 2027, Undeclared
Isha Patel
Class of 2027, Data Science and Statistics
Shanon Wang
Class of 2026, Decision Science
Nina Zhao
Class of 2025, Decision Science
Bo Xie
Class of 2027, Undeclared