Alia Crum

Alia Crum’s research focuses on how changes in subjective mindsets - the lenses through which information is perceived, organized, and interpreted - can alter objective reality through behavioral, psychological, and physiological mechanisms. Her work is, in part, inspired by research on the placebo effect, a remarkable and consistent demonstration of the ability of the mindset to elicit healing properties in the body. Crum is interested in understanding how mindsets affect important outcomes outside the realm of medicine, in the domains of behavioral health and organizational behavior. More specifically, she aims to understand how mindsets can be consciously and deliberately changed through intervention to affect organizational and individual performance, physiological and psychological well-being, and interpersonal effectiveness.

Crum, an associate professor of psychology and medicine (primary care and population health) at Stanford University, is a recipient of the NIH New Innovator Award. Her work, inspired by research on the placebo effect, demonstrates the mind’s ability to elicit healing. She was a CASBS fellow in 2024-25.