Randolph M Nesse
Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry
Professor Emeritus of Psychology
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Research Professor Emeritus
Research Center for Group Dynamics
Institute for Social Research
[email protected]

Available to mentor
Randolph M Nesse
Professor Emeritus/a
  • About
  • Research Overview
  • Recent Publications
    • About

    A founder of the field of evolutionary medicine, Nesse retired from the University of Michigan after a 40 year career in Psychiatry, Psychology and the Institute for Social Research and moved to Arizona State University in 2015 to start a new Center for Evolution and Medicine.

    He founded the International Society for Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health, an organization that has brought together disparate scientists, scholars and clinicians into what is now a thriving field that uses the basic principles of evolutionary biology to better understand, prevent, and treat disease. He is now devoting more effort to developing the field of evolutionary psychiatry, the subspeciality that seeks ot understand why natural selection has left humans vulnerable to mental disorders.

    See https://ISEMPH.org for more on the Society.

    See https://RandolphNesse.com for articles, podcasts, and many other resources relevant to evolutionary medicine and evolutionary psychiatry.

    Research Overview

    Evolutionary medicine
    Evolutionary psychiatry
    Anxiety disorders
    Depression
    Emotions
    Grief
    Control theory
    Evolutionary biology
    The origins of cooperation and morality

    Recent Publications See All Publications
    • Chapter
      Evolutionary Psychiatry
      Nesse RM, Stein DJ. 2023 Tasman’s Psychiatry, 1 - 42. DOI:10.1007/978-3-030-42825-9_71-1
    • Journal Article
      Evolutionary psychiatry: foundations, progress and challenges.
      Nesse RM. World Psychiatry, 2023 Jun; 22 (2): 177 - 202. DOI:10.1002/wps.21072
      PMID: 37159362
    • Journal Article
      The EvMed Assessment: A test for measuring student understanding of core concepts in evolutionary medicine.
      Misheva T, Nesse RM, Grunspan DZ, Brownell SE. Evol Med Public Health, 2023 11 (1): 353 - 362. DOI:10.1093/emph/eoad028
      PMID: 37881688
    • Chapter
      Anxiety Disorders in Evolutionary Perspective
      Nesse RM. 2022 Sep 29; Evolutionary Psychiatry, 101 - 116. DOI:10.1017/9781009030564.009
    • Chapter
      Why Do Mental Disorders Persist?
      Nesse RM. 2022 Sep 29; Evolutionary Psychiatry, 84 - 100. DOI:10.1017/9781009030564.008
    • Chapter
      Anxiety Disorders in Evolutionary Perspective
      Nesse RM. 2022 Aug 31; Evolutionary Psychiatry, 101 - 116. DOI:10.1017/9781911623625.009
    • Chapter
      Why Do Mental Disorders Persist?
      Nesse RM. 2022 Aug 31; Evolutionary Psychiatry, 84 - 100. DOI:10.1017/9781911623625.008
    • Journal Article
      Social Situations Shape Social Emotions That Benefit Genes
      Nesse RM. Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture, 2022 Apr 1; 6 (1): 39 - 42. DOI:10.26613/esic.6.1.268