Key Findings:
- Health disparities between groups are explained by differences in experienced interpersonal discrimination and structural opportunities.
- Social stressors lead to worse health outcomes through increases in inflammation.
- Transcriptional changes represent an early molecular indicator that may be shaped by exposure to discriminatory experiences.
Health disparities between different sociodemographic groups are a longstanding and critical concern for public health. However, mechanisms for health disparities have long remained unclear. For his interdisciplinary research linking social stressors to biological dysregulation that drives poorer health outcomes, FABBS is delighted to name Dr. Adolfo Cuevas an Early Career Award winner.
Dr. Cuevas received his PhD in applied psychology from Portland State University, completed a postdoctoral fellowship in public health at Harvard University, and is currently an associate professor at New York University in the School of Global Public Health. Dr. Cuevas’s research combines intergroup relationship themes from social psychology with inflammatory and gene expression biomedical research to understand mechanisms of health disparities. He was nominated for the FABBS early career award by the Society for Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine.
There is substantial evidence that social stressors, such as racial discrimination, lead to worse health outcomes like increased risk for cardiovascular disease and mortality rates. Dr. Cuevas’s research examines how these social stressors “get under the skin” as biological mechanisms for poorer health outcomes. Most notably, Dr. Cuevas helped identify inflammation as one key mechanism. In a systematic review, Dr. Cuevas found consistent evidence that experienced discrimination was associated with increased inflammatory markers, such as the IL-1 cytokine, that are linked to worse health outcomes.
To Dr. Cuevas, identifying inflammation as a biological dysregulation mechanism was crucial to supporting the differential exposure hypothesis. The differential exposure hypothesis suggests that health disparities in minority groups are due to increased experience of social stressors, rather than inherent vulnerabilities. Further supporting this view, in a large representative sample of over 1,000 Americans, Dr. Cuevas found that experiences of discrimination accounted for a substantial amount of inflammation disparities between Black and White Americans. Additionally, Dr. Cuevas found that education accounted for population differences in inflammation, highlighting an additional impact of socioeconomic status.
In more recent work, Dr. Cuevas is researching social genomics. He specifically examines how social stressors lead to cellular changes that cause higher inflammation. He has found that transcriptional changes in genes regulating inflammatory cytokines and the mobilization of immune cells are not merely personal reactions to stress. Instead, these biological shifts occur systematically across communities lacking safety and opportunity.
Observing the health risks of discrimination and socioeconomic status that affect many Americans, Dr. Cuevas is also interested in identifying and leveraging protective factors. Mainly, he examines how social connectedness can buffer biological regulation against consequences of discrimination and other social stressors.
He notes that adverse health consequences resulting from structural and wealth inequality and interpersonal discrimination are well evidenced. To address these challenges, he describes a multi-tiered approach including (1) direct individual care, (2) structural equity (e.g., increasing neighborhood opportunity), and (3) improving intergroup relations. With his social psychology background, Dr. Cuevas is especially interested in intergroup relations and advocates for school programs that promote positive interactions between diverse children.
Another impact of Dr. Cuevas’s research is the ability to destigmatize the adverse consequences of discrimination. In his communication through public outlets and community outreach around New York City, he teaches how our social experiences become biologically imprinted. More broadly, Dr. Cuevas is committed to community outreach. For example, through a Community Research Fellows Training program, he directly works with community members to improve their ability to engage with and evaluate scientific health research.
Overall, Dr. Adolfo Cuevas is an emerging leader uniting social psychology and biological medicine to improve public health. His research details the biological mechanisms linking social stress and health disparities, with ultimate goals of mitigating them. For his exceptional research and commitment to public impact, Dr. Cuevas is well-deserving of this early career award.
Potential for Future Impact:
- Early detection and intervention of health risks through transcriptional and inflammatory markers.
- Destigmatization of the adverse consequences of discrimination.
- Early preventative measures through intergroup collaboration and social support.
