Epidemiology

Dr. Bruce Link is principal investigator of a new project titled “A Lifecourse Approach to Emerging Health Disparities in a U.S. Birth Cohort”, funded by NICHD.

This study takes a life course approach to the emergence of racial and socioeconomic disparities in general health, obesity, respiratory function, and depression. The project represents an exceptionally exciting opportunity, providing the potential to gain a greater understanding of the underpinnings of how and when health disparities.

One of the most interesting aspects of the study is its use of archived data on the middle-aged adult participants, dating from their in utero experience, infancy, childhood, and adolescence. The study will examine how these early life experiences (as well as data on family origins) may influence adult outcomes.

Employing an innovative theoretical framework, Dr. Link and his team of investigators will evaluate how a model of dynamic interplay between social conditions, cognitive abilities, and emerging health – and in the context of racial discrimination - may help explain the appearance and persistence of health disparities in adult life.