# DNA methylation in context: Racial inequities in social adversity and vulnerability to the health impact of air pollution - Diversity Supplement (Fike)

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2024 · $164,741

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
This application is for a diversity supplement for Dr. Kayla Fike on the NIA funded DNA methylation in context:
Racial inequities in social adversity and vulnerability to the health impact of air pollution (R01AG074887). Black-
White inequities in healthy aging are well-known with Black adults experiencing greater risk of developing and
earlier onset of chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), hypertension, and diabetes compared
to White adults. Neighborhood context has emerged as a potentially powerful determinant of racial inequities in
aging-related health conditions, including cognitive decline, and may be a key intervention site. Neighborhoods
include both social and environmental exposures important for healthy aging. Evidence indicates stark racial
inequities in exposure to segregated, under-resourced but over-surveilled and polluted neighborhoods. Pollution
and aspects of social adversity are often correlated and may operate cumulatively to result in racial health
inequities. Importantly, however, these chemical (i.e. pollution) and non-chemical (i.e., social adversity) stressors
may act synergistically, whereby exposure to social adversity can heighten vulnerability to the deleterious health
impact of even low levels of pollution. Yet, the environmental and social science literatures – even the
environmental and social epidemiology literatures – are largely separate. There is a pressing need to integrate
the study of these exposures given their likely cumulative and synergistic effects on racial health inequities in
order to direct effective interventions and policies. In addition to the gaps in our knowledge about the combined
impact of chemical and non-chemical stressors on racial inequities in healthy aging, there is a need to focus on
outcomes that may serve as biological pathways to numerous diseases. Research on either pollution or social
adversity has tended to focus on specific health outcomes. Focus on a single disease may underestimate the
overall health impact of these racially unequal exposures. It is critical to clarify the shared biological mechanisms
that underlie numerous chronic diseases to understand the full impact of pollution and social adversity on racial
health inequities. A growing literature points to the importance of epigenetic factors, particularly DNA methylation,
linking socioenvironmental context to health. Indeed, it may be that epigenetic processes are an important
mechanism through which inequities in both air pollution and social adversity are embodied. Our objective is to
identify underlying DNA methylation mechanisms linking neighborhood segregation and ambient and industrial
air pollution and social adversity to measures of healthy aging. Clarifying the role of neighborhood in racial health
inequities is critical, as neighborhoods are amenable to intervention. Identifying the role of DNA methylation
patterns reflecting racial segregation, including chemical and non-chemical s...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11058910
- **Project number:** 3R01AG074887-04S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** Margaret Takako Hicken
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $164,741
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2021-07-15 → 2026-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11058910

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11058910, DNA methylation in context: Racial inequities in social adversity and vulnerability to the health impact of air pollution - Diversity Supplement (Fike) (3R01AG074887-04S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11058910. Licensed CC0.

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