Presenter: Adolfo Cuevas, New York University
In-person in RLP 1.302 E
And via Zoom https://utexas.zoom.us/j/92920894372
Abstract:
Exposure to discrimination represents significant risk factors for illness and disease, particularly affecting racially minoritized groups. These experiences, akin to other psychological and social stressors, trigger physiological responses that disrupt the body’s homeostasis, potentially leading to stress-related diseases. Mounting evidence underscores inflammation as an important pathway in the pathophysiology of these conditions. This presentation offers a brief overview of discrimination’s impact on health, particularly among marginalized racial/ethnic groups. Emphasis is placed on elucidating how discriminatory encounters incite physiological responses, disturbing homeostasis, and precipitating stress-related diseases via inflammatory pathways. Recent research linking discrimination and inflammation will be presented. This talk will highlight limitations in the literature and outline recommendations for future studies to comprehensively examine this association, aiming to fill crucial knowledge gaps.
Bio:
Adolfo G. Cuevas, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at NYU’s School of Global Public Health and Deputy Director of the Center for Anti-racism, Social Justice, & Public Health. As a community psychologist, he employs epidemiological, psychological, and biological approaches to investigate the effects of discrimination on health and health inequities. He uses a wide range of population-level datasets and advanced statistical methods to establish a plausible understanding of how discrimination “get under the skin” to increase the risk of aging-related diseases. Dr. Cuevas’ work has been published in scientific journals, such as Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nature’s International Journal of Obesity, Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, and Annals of Internal Medicine and featured in HuffPost and NPR’s Code Switch. He is currently spearheading three NIH-funded project aimed at examining the impact of both neighborhood and interpersonal discrimination on biological dysregulation throughout the life course. For his contributions to research on discrimination and health, Dr. Cuevas was named one of the National Minority Quality Forum’s 40 Under 40 Leaders in Minority Health in 2018 and received the Herbert Weiner Early Career Award by the Society of Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine in 2025. Prior to joining NYU, he was the Gerald R. Gill Assistant Professor of Race, Culture, and Society at Tufts University. He earned his PhD and MS in applied psychology from Portland State University and completed postdoctoral training at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.