Speaker: Dr. Samuele Zilioli, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences at Wayne State University (WSU), Detroit.

Time: 10:00 - 11:30, May 16th, 2019

Venue: #1115，Wangkezhen Building，Peking University

Abstract: Health and longevity track social stratification, such that low socioeconomic status (SES) confers higher risks of cardiovascular, respiratory, and psychiatric diseases as well as premature mortality. The Socioeconomic Gradient Bow-Tie model (Zilioli et al., 2018), represents a theoretical attempt to capture the complexity of the socioeconomic gradient in health by considering reinforcing and balancing dependencies between a person’s SES, physical and social environments, and biopsychological processes through which environmental inputs are processed. Health outcomes, regarding both surrogate endpoints (e.g., blood pressure, BMI) and clinical endpoints (e.g., physical symptoms, mortality), are the product of this continuous synthesis. Grounded in the SGBT model, my research aims at shedding light on the psychosocial mediators and moderators of the effects of SES on health-related biology (e.g., endocrine and immune functioning) and physical health across the lifespan. I have worked with both healthy samples as well as subjects affected by chronic diseases, such as asthma, HIV/AIDS, and cardiovascular disease, and in many of these studies have targeted high-risk populations, including minority race/ethnicity samples from Detroit. In the present talk, I will mainly focus on glucocorticoid mechanisms, as a significant biological intermediary through which SES and SES-related stressors can influence health. Although studies conducted among adults will be presented, most of the studies will focus on children, adolescents, and young adults, with a focus on African Americans living in Detroit.

Host: Dr. Zhou Guangyu

2019-05-14