Researching Institutional and Psychosocial Sources of Resiliency to Accelerated Biological Aging

A.父母补助金摘要

A. SUMMARY OF PARENT GRANT The central aim of the Researching Epigenetics, Weathering, Aging, and Residential Disadvantage (REWARD) study (R01AG061080) is to investigate how cumulative and contextual disadvantage act to accelerate biological aging processes. Persistent exposure to these disadvantages is known to produce health disparities through biological mechanisms in a process known as weathering. The health effects of weathering have been well- documented [1,2]. However, previously proposed mechanisms of weathering, such as allostatic load, shortened telomere length, and altered stress and immune responses have proven limited in explaining persistent health disparities [3]. Recent discoveries in human epigenetics suggest that differential rates of biological aging may play an important role in explaining these disparities [4,5]. R01AG061080 advances our understanding of weathering by probing the mechanisms through which individual and spatial disadvantage “get under the skin” to throttle biological aging processes. Termed “epigenetic clocks,” several specific DNA methylation patterns have been identified as metrics of biological aging [6-8]. The REWARD study collected DNA methylation data from 1400 participants in the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin (SHOW). The resulting dataset combines rich biomarker and demographic data and the residential addresses of participants with cutting-edge biological aging metrics, allowing for our group to investigate social and contextual causes of disparities in biological aging. Critically for the purposes of the proposed supplement, this address data can also be used to expand the range of the contextual characteristics considered. A growing body of interdisciplinary evidence identifies key associations between local institutional contexts, such as public schools, libraries, and safety services, and health outcomes. No research of which we are aware has investigated associations between institutional contexts and biological aging. Understanding whether and how local public and social institutions shape racial, socioeconomic, and disparities in biological aging may provide new insights for structural intervention aimed at ameliorating these disparities. We will address this by expanding the reach of the REWARD study of biological aging disparities to include local institutions. We will additionally assess the role of psychosocial sources of resiliency in the weathering process. To accomplish these aims, we will link publicly available institutional data, including quinquennial municipal and business records, with the REWARD dataset using the geocoded street addresses of study participants. Next, we will apply the analytic strategy outlined below to estimate the associations between local institutions, psychosocial factors – such as sense of community and community participation, and biological aging. Dr. Clark will have access to all data resources available within the REWARD and SHOW studies, as well as computational resources from the Center for Demography of Health and Aging (CDHA). This proposed Research Supplement to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (RSPD) will provide Dr. Clark with the resources, protected time, and mentorship necessary to achieve the stated research and training aims.