If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to [email protected]. John T. Cacioppo's groundbreaking research topples one of the pillars of modern medicine and psychology: the focus on the individual as the unit of inquiry. By employing brain scans, monitoring blood pressure, and analyzing immune function, he demonstrates the overpowering influence of social context--a factor so strong that it can alter DNA replication. Most importantly, he shows how we can break the trap of isolation for our benefit both as individuals and as a society. Mr. Cacioppo is the Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor in Psychology.