Interdisciplinary Network on Rural Population Health and Aging

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Project Summary The goal of this two-year Research Diversity Supplement for the “Analysis of Rural/Urban Disparities in Allostatic Load, Biological Risk Profiles, and Mortality” parent award (R24AG065159) is to provide Dr. Alexis R. Santos with the necessary skills to establish an independent research program in rural/urban health disparities with emphasis in stress, aging and mortality. Stress, measured as a combination of markers of physiological dysregulation, is associated with numerous causes of death among middle-age and older adults, and earlier onset of diseases and other health conditions. Although significant efforts have been made to elucidate rural/urban disparities in health, the role that stress and accelerated aging play in these disparities is vastly under-addressed in the extant scholarship. Thus, the overall objective of the current proposal is to identify the role that rural/urban residence plays in disparities in allostatic load, patterns of physiological dysregulation, and mortality. Dr. Santos’ research will contribute to all four aims of the parent award: (Aim 1) developing an open and evolving network that draws participants from multiple regions, institutions, disciplines, career stages, and underrepresented groups; (Aim 2) designing activities to generate innovative research by enhancing the capacity of Network members and supporting formative research; (Aim 3) conducting novel research to understand the multilevel and multidimensional mechanisms driving rural-urban continuum and within-rural disparities in health and aging; and (Aim 4) disseminate data, analytic resources, and research findings to academic, policy, and public audiences through research briefs, webinars, data archiving, and other mechanisms. Most activities for this award will take place at The Pennsylvania State University (PSU) under the mentorship of Dr. Leif Jensen who is a Distinguished Professor of Rural Sociology and Demography, Associate Director of the Social Sciences Research Institute and Principal Investigator of the Parent Grant; (2) Dr. Martin Sliwinski who is Gregory H. Wolf Professor of Aging Studies, Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, Director of the Center for Healthy Aging at PSU, and INRPHA Co-I; and (3) Dr. Shannon Monnat who is an Associate Professor of Sociology, Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion and INRPHA Co-PI and lead at Syracuse University. The training component of the award will include participation in mentoring meetings, coursework, seminars, conferences, and workshops sponsored by either INRPHA or the two collaborating institutions.