By: Whitney Hopler, Communications Manager, Center for the Advancement of Well-Being
Ali Weinstein, Ph.D., has been appointed as our center’s new Director of Research and Scholarship. A professor at George Mason University’s College of Public Health, Weinstein has been a vital part of our center’s community since joining as a Senior Scientist in 2019 and is poised to steer our research initiatives into a new era of collaborative success.
“It’s an honor to have Dr. Weinstein in this new role at CWB. Her research has informed the science of well-being and has influenced evidence-based interventions for students and non-students. Dr. Weinstein’s intellectual leadership will allow us to expand and deepen our reach at Mason and beyond,” said Nance Lucas, CWB Executive Director and Chief Well-Being Officer.
Weinstein brings a clear and inspiring vision to her new leadership position. Her primary goal is to foster a more interconnected and supportive research environment that bridges disciplines and extends beyond the university’s walls.
“I’m really excited about this new role,” Weinstein shared. “What excites me most is the chance to connect people and ideas across the university and in the community. We have such a strong group of scientists and scholars, and I’d love to create more opportunities for collaboration that spark new directions in well-being research.”
For Weinstein, success is measured not only in academic citations but also in tangible, real-world outcomes. “Success means creating an environment where our research has both scholarly impact and real-world relevance,” she explained. “I’d love to see our center’s work not only shaping academic conversations but also influencing practice and policy around well-being. Equally important, I want to ensure that our scholars and scientists feel supported in their own professional growth and in pursuing research they find meaningful.”
Central to this vision is building a vibrant intellectual community. “I envision a vibrant, collegial community where we regularly come together to share our ideas, challenges, and findings – whether through seminars, informal conversations, or collaborative projects. By showcasing our research within Mason and beyond, we can highlight the breadth and depth of our contributions to understanding and advancing well-being,” she said.
Weinstein added, “I want to try to connect people across the university and across academic disciplines based on their well-being portfolios.”
Weinstein’s journey with our center was first inspired by her popular undergraduate class, “Stress and Well-Being,” which is now a core part of the university’s Well-Being Minor and a Mason Social and Behavioral Sciences Core course. Her expertise lies in the psychophysiology of stress, physical activity, and their connections to chronic conditions like cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes. Currently, her research is focused on a critical contemporary issue: understanding and mitigating the drivers of burnout among healthcare professionals.
She offers a nuanced perspective on stress, challenging the common view that it is an exclusively negative force. “A lot of times we think of the negative aspects of stress. But stress is not all bad. We need stress. It’s motivating,” Weinstein noted. “Our actual optimal level of performance is at a moderate level of stress. Stress can help us. So, how can we harness it in positive ways?”
She pointed out that there are a variety of organizational and structural factors in people’s lives that contribute to the negative stress they experience. In order to prevent burnout, said Weinstein, it’s important to work on those organizational and structural factors – such as incorporating more well-being policies that support employee well-being.
Weinstein also said that self-care well-being practices are also important to deal with negative stress that can lead to burnout, and that those practices can be especially useful for college students. “What we want to try to have is meaningful, productive lives,” she said. “So, it’s important to be able to recognize when stress is serving us well, versus when we’re feeling frazzled and we’re not accomplishing as much as when we want to – those are signals that our stress has gone beyond the point at which it’s helpful. We need to pay attention to those signals and then take steps to manage our stress.
Self-care really does help us manage stress well, so we can prevent burnout. We each can find ways that work well for us to utilize coping and relaxing techniques to manage the negative stress in our lives.” Personally, Weinstein enjoys the self-care practices of exercise like yoga and taking walks in nature to help maintain her well-being.
Weinstein’s appointment marks an exciting new chapter for our center. Her dedication to interdisciplinary research collaboration, real-world impact, and supporting her fellow researchers will strengthen our mission to promote a world where everyone can thrive.
Reflecting on this appointment, CWB Senior Scientist Lauren Kuykendall commented that she is “thrilled that Dr. Weinstein is taking on this new role. She has been such a force for good at Mason, and I look forward to seeing what new initiatives emerge under her leadership. I am excited for new opportunities to collaborate across fields and with community partners as we continue pursuing the valuable work of the center.”
Learn more about Weinstein’s research here.