Social factors, molecular mechanisms, and healthy aging

Neighborhood context has emerged as a potentially powerful determinant of population variation in healthy aging and may be a key intervention site. Evidence indicates stark demographic variation in exposure to resource-rich, low-pollution neighborhoods. These features are often correlated and may operate cumulatively to result in population health patterns. Importantly, however, these chemical (i.e., pollution) and non-chemical (i.e., social resources) stressors may act synergistically, whereby exposure to the latter can heighten vulnerability to the deleterious health impact of even low levels of pollution.

Further, focus on a single disease may underestimate the overall health impact of these exposures. It is critical to clarify the shared biological mechanisms that underlie numerous chronic diseases to understand the full impact of these exposures on population health. A growing literature points to the importance of epigenetic factors, particularly DNA methylation, linking context to health. With funding from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities and the National Institute on Aging, our objective is to identify underlying DNA methylation mechanisms linking neighborhood features to measures of healthy aging. Clarifying the role of the neighborhood in population health is critical, as neighborhoods are amenable to intervention.