Research

We aim to conduct research that leads to social ecological lens, which recognizes that the population-level distribution of disease is driven by societal structures, institutions, policies, and the environment, which can enhance or undermine health and play a profound role in generating health inequities. These “social determinants of health” shape health trajectories by influencing individual behavioral factors and increasing biological vulnerability. These processes start early in the life course, including in utero via epigenetic mechanisms and maternal stress exposure; and continue to operate throughout human development—spanning from infancy through later adulthood. The Society, Health, and Racial Equity (SHARE) Lab is intended to be the locus of transdisciplinary developmental approaches to research on the role of societal forces in shaping the population-level distribution of health outcomes, and in particular, racial inequities in health.We place an emphasis on connecting laboratory-based research to population sciences, including interactions between social-contextual factors and psychobiological mechanisms impacting disease risk.