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Dr. Philip J. Cozzolino is an Associate Professor of Research in the Division of Perceptual Studies (DOPS) at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Minnesota and previously spent 17 years at the University of Essex in the UK before joining UVA .

Dr. Cozzolino’s research focuses on how individuals seek meaning in life, particularly through the lens of death awareness. He has developed a psychological model suggesting that confronting mortality can lead to increased well-being, greater self-direction, and more authentic living. His work has been featured in various media outlets, including the Huffington Post, Psychology Today, Scientific American, and BBC Radio 4 .

At DOPS, Dr. Cozzolino investigates phenomena such as near-death experiences, out-of-body experiences, and children’s reports of past-life memories. He is particularly interested in the psychological and cultural aspects of these experiences. In 2024, he led a webinar discussing parental attitudes toward children’s past-life memories, a topic that has been a focus of DOPS research for over six decades .

In 2025, Dr. Cozzolino co-led a $750,000 research initiative aimed at exploring why certain children report memories of past lives. This two-year project employs advanced neuroimaging and contemporary research methodologies to investigate these phenomena .

For more information on his work, you can visit his profiles on Google Scholar and ResearchGate, or contact him directly at rxq6qz@uvahealth.org.

To gain deeper insights into his research, you might find this interview informative: