The Adult Health and Behavior (AHAB) Study is one of the longest and largest ongoing projects in the Behavioral Immunology Laboratory. Data collection for wave one of the first cohort started in the early 2000s and we have just finished data collection for wave two for both of our study cohorts. AHAB was broadly designed to investigate how individual and societal psychosocial factors influence the biology of aging. The AHAB dataset is rich in biological, physiological, psychological, and cognitive data. With the AHAB project, our lab has been able to investigate a variety of questions related to the biology of aging (to see some of the publications associated with this study, please click here). With data collection for wave two just finishing, we hope to be sharing new results soon.

Many factors can influence heart health, such as stress, physical activity, and the amount of information we have about what influences our health. In eBACH, researchers are specifically trying to understand the connection between the brain and heart health. A key question they are asking is about how differences in people’s physical activity relates to their brain and heart health. This study will involve an exercise intervention, where participants will exercise with a personal trainer two times a week for one year. Study particicpants are between the ages of 28 and 56 years old.

It is still unclear how psychological stressors biologically influence disease pathophysiology. Most work has focused on the role of inflammation. However, recent work has indicated that mitochondria might mediate or partially mediate the stress response. Mitochondria play a central role in the stress response, especially since they are the location of cellular respiration. The primary goal of the study is to better characterize the relationship between stress, inflammation, and mitochondrial function.

Psychosocial stress and negative emotions are associated with an increased risk of CVD, and there is still much that remains unknown about the underlying neurobiological mechanisms and pathways connecting these factors to cardiovascular health. This study aims to build upon convergent work by previous projects that have already identified functional features of brain circuits, known as visceral control circuits, involved in stress- and emotion-related processes.

The pathogenesis of CVD and cardiometabolic health begins in childhood, thus it is imperative to identify factors that contribute to emerging cardiometabolic health disparities. Here, we proposed to evaluated a sample of young men who have been closely followed since early childhood. This study will assess their cardiometabolic health and permit us to evaluate whether family-, school- and community-level factors assessed during critical phases of childhood are pathways through which early socioeconomic disadvantage shapes cardiometabolic health in adulthood. The project will assess the cardiovascular health of a diverse sample of men aged ~31- 33 years who participated in the Pittsburgh Mother & Child Project (PMCP).

This is an National Institute on Aging clinical trial that will compare two activities, African Dance and a Cultural Immersion Group, which might be beneficial for older African Americans (ages 60-80). The study examines whether brain health, fitness levels or quality of life improve as a result of participating in these activities three times per week for six months.

Stress is everywhere. Stress in early life has been associated with many negative health outcomes. Mindfulness has been proposed as a treatment to help people better cope with the stress in their life. However, not everyone has the time to take out of their day to go to mindfulness seminars and retreats. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of an online mindfulness intervention. The hope is to make mindfulness interventions more accessible.

In collaboration with Dr. Susan Perlman (Washington University of St. Louis)

This studyexamines biological pathways through which early life stress affects risk for psychopathology in early childhood, and the mechanisms by which caregiving can alter the trajectories of biological and psychological stress responses. The Behavioral Immunology Laboratory is responsible for the assessment of markers of inflammation.

This study focuses on biological risk profiles immediately after acute suicidal crises and examining familial and nonfamilial risk profiles. The study focuses on a stress responsive biological phenotype that may be associated with more lethal and familial suicidal behavior. The Behavioral Immunology Laboratory is responsible for assessing levels of inflammatory markers in this study.

This study examines responses to stress in children of parents with advanced cancer. The main goal of this study is to assess biomarkers in the HPA Axis and inflammatory pathways for maladaptive stress response in children. The Behavioral Immunology Laboratory is responsible for measuring markers of inflammation, hair cortisol concentration and cellular sensitivity to glucocorticoids in this study.

The goals of this study are to examine whether COVID-19 is associated with increased risk for psychopathology in youth above and beyond risk related to pandemic-related stressors. The Behavioral Immunology Laboratory is responsible for assessing markers of inflammation.

The main goal of the PROMISE Study is identifying predictors in the HPA Axis and inflammatory pathways for suicidal behavior in youth. This study is examining biological markers that predict risk for suicide in a sample of psychiatric patients aged 18-30 years. The Behavioral Immunology Laboratory is responsible for assessing hair cortisol concentration and circulating markers of inflammation for this study.