Bianca Sewinski

Biography

Dr Bianca Serwinski is Associate Professor and Head of Psychology at Northeastern University London, where she leads the BA Psychology programme. She has been with the institution since 2018, contributing to curriculum development and teaching across psychology, health sciences, and social sciences.

She holds a PhD in Health/ Medical Psychology from University College London (UCL), awarded in 2017 with a scholarship from the UK Medical Research Council. Her research focuses on the physiological mechanisms underlying the mind, particularly the stress response, and the role of subjective perception, emotion regulation and coping, linking the broader psychobiological pathways of stress to health outcomes.

Dr Serwinski is a Chartered Psychologist (CPsychol) with the BPS. She regularly supervises student research projects in health psychology and related fields. She is the founder of Evidence-it, an evidence-based consultancy supporting organisations in scientific research, data collection, and analytics beyond the academic sector.

Qualifications

PhD, Health Psychology, University College London (2017)
MSc, Health Psychology, University College London (2012)
BSc, Psychology, University of Kent (2011)

Academic Honours and Professional Affiliations

Young Investigator Colloquium Award, American Psychosomatic Society (2015)
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) PhD stipend (2012-2015)
PhD research funding (Unilever; 2013)
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) conference funding (2014; UCL)
Scientific Advisory Committee: EPISTATA – Agency for Clinical Research, Medical Statistics
British Psychological Society (BPS) Member: Chartered Psychologist (CPsychol)
European Health Psychology Society (EHPS): Member
Fellow of Higher Education Academy (FHEA) Status

Research

Bianca completed her PhD at UCL in the area of Psychoneuroendocrinology. For this she investigated the effects of psychological and psychosocial factors (including stress perception, emotions and coping) in relation to the hormone cortisol, heart rate variability and well-being. She studied the physiological mechanisms of the stress response, further validating the quantification of cortisol in human hair as a biomarker for chronic cortisol exposure. Her current research builds on this work, exploring the role of oxytocin in social connection and emotional regulation, as well as its potential modulation through psychological interventions and the connection between DHEA/cortisol ratio in decision-making and memory function under stress, aiming to better understand the neuroendocrine underpinnings of cognitive and emotional functioning. She was also a research fellow at UCL until 2024.

Books

Steptoe A., Serwinski B. (2016). Cortisol awakening response. Book: Stress Concepts and Cognition, Emotion, and Behavior.

Articles

• Sang, N., Serwinski, B. & Moeendarbary, E (in progress). Investigating sleep efficiency and hormonal responses in risked-based decision-making under acute atress: A quasi-experimental study.
• Agrawal, A., Watson, S., Serwinski, B., Djordjevic, B., Aref, A., Jenkins, R., Moeendarbary E. (2025). Mechanical signatures in cancer metastasis. npj Biological Physics and Mechanics, 2(1), 3.
• Solorzano, C. S., Serwinski, B., Grano, C., & Steptoe, A. (2023). Longitudinal association between saliva and hair cortisol concentration: A systematic comparison. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 156, 106340.
• Hall, C. M., Lasli, S., Serwinski, B., Djordjevic, B., Sheridan, G. K., & Moeendarbary, E. (2023). Hippocampus of the APPNL–G–F mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease exhibits region-specific tissue softening concomitant with elevated astrogliosis. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 15.
• Agrawal, A. … Serwinski, B., … & Moeendarbary, E. (2023). Stromal cells regulate mechanics of tumour spheroid. Materials Today Bio, 100821.
• Whisler, J., Shahreza, S., Schlegelmilch, K., Ege, N., Javanmardi, Y., Malandrino, A., … Serwinski, B., … & Moeendarbary, E. (2023). Emergent mechanical control of vascular morphogenesis. Science Advances, 9(32), eadg9781.
• Javanmardi, Y., Agrawal, A., Malandrino, A., Lasli, S., Chen, M., Shahreza, S., Serwinski, B., & Moeendarbary, E. (2023). Endothelium and Subendothelial Matrix Mechanics Modulate Cancer Cell Transendothelial Migration. Advanced Science, 2206554.
• Serwinski, B., Salavecz, G., Kirschbaum, C., & Steptoe, A. (2016). Associations between hair cortisol concentration, income, income dynamics and status incongruity in healthy middle-aged women. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 67, 182-188.
• Serwinski B. (2015). Associations between hair and salivary cortisol – a study of temporal relationships. Presentation to the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society, Savannah, GA. Abstract published in Psychosomatic Medicine, 77, A-45.

Conference presentations