Dr. Thames is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UCLA. She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Alliant International University/CSPP and completed her postdoctoral fellowship in clinical neuropsychology at UCLA. She is the recipient of an NIH Career Development Award (K23) to study the neurological, cognitive, and psychiatric outcomes of HIV. She is a clinical supervisor at UCLA’s Medical Psychology Assessment Center (MPAC) and serves as a primary preceptor for postdoctoral fellows in the Neuropsychology of HIV/AIDS fellowship. Her primary research interests are in psychological resiliency factors, attitudes, and social support systems that influence chronic disease outcomes. As a Morris A. Hazan Scholar recipient, she is examining how psychological characteristics such as hardiness, resilience, and optimism influence quality of life among individuals with chronic disease. Support from the Friends Scholar program will allow her to expand her research program to include the study of positive psychological and psychosocial characteristics and disease-related outcomes. The results gathered from the proposed study have great implications for optimizing current treatments geared towards individuals with chronic illness.