Dr. Sol is a clinical psychologist with clinical training emphasis in rehabilitation psychology. Her research interests are in ethnic minority health and disparities in cognitive aging and dementia using large epidemiological datasets for longitudinal analyses.
Research Theme: Health
Josh Ehrlich
Dr. Ehrlich is an ophthalmologist and population health researcher. His research is focused on understanding and addressing the adverse impact of vision impairment and blindness on health, disability, and quality-of-life, with a particular focus on older adults. He is the principal investigator of NIH funded research in this field, and also collaborates with a number… Continue reading Josh Ehrlich
Racial inequalities in health throughout adulthood: The cumulative impact of neighborhood chemical and non-chemical stressors on epigenomic pathways
Racial inequalities in healthy aging have been well-documented. Compared to White Americans, Black Americans experience illness and death at early ages and show steeper age-related declines in health. Our neighborhoods, as the site of where we live, learn, play, and pray, may serve as a powerful source of these racial inequalities. Racial residential segregation (which… Continue reading Racial inequalities in health throughout adulthood: The cumulative impact of neighborhood chemical and non-chemical stressors on epigenomic pathways
Novel use of mHealth data to identify states of vulnerability and receptivity to JITAIs
Smoking cessation decreases morbidity and mortality and is a cornerstone of cancer prevention. The ability to impact current and future vulnerability (e.g., high risk for a lapse) in real-time via engagement in self-regulatory activities (e.g., relaxation techniques, behavioral substitution, mindful attention) is considered an important pathway to quitting success. However, poor engagement represents a major… Continue reading Novel use of mHealth data to identify states of vulnerability and receptivity to JITAIs
Novel Longitudinal Methods for SMART Studies of Drug Abuse and HIV
The treatment of drug use and HIV often requires sequential, individualized decision-making concerning the type or delivery of treatment. An adaptive intervention is a treatment design that uses ongoing information from the patient to guide whether, and how to modify the treatment over time. By providing the appropriate treatment to those who need it, when… Continue reading Novel Longitudinal Methods for SMART Studies of Drug Abuse and HIV
Michigan Center for Contextual Factors in Alzheimer’s Disease (MCCFAD)
Michigan Center for Contextual Factors in Alzheimer’s Disease (MCCFAD) aims to foster and enhance innovative research in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) with the long term goals to 1) advance ADRD-relevant social and behavioral science research in underserved and underrepresented communities while; 2) diversify the research workforce dedicated to healthy aging. This center will… Continue reading Michigan Center for Contextual Factors in Alzheimer’s Disease (MCCFAD)
Epigenetic Mediation of Adverse Social Context on Stress Response, Socioemotional Development, and Health in a Population-based Study of Minority and Low SES Children and Adolescents
Pronounced disparities exist by race, ethnicity, and SES in children and adolescents across a range of health conditions, and many adult health disparities can be traced to childhood social contextual inequalities. Epigenetics — modifications to the genome that are not changes in nucleotide sequence — holds great promise as potential indicators of contextual effects and… Continue reading Epigenetic Mediation of Adverse Social Context on Stress Response, Socioemotional Development, and Health in a Population-based Study of Minority and Low SES Children and Adolescents
Grace Noppert
Dr. Noppert’s work lies at the intersection of biology, sociology, and epidemiology. Her work seeks to explain how social processes across the life course, such as socioeconomic status, impact a person’s biology. For example, does experiencing persistent disadvantage throughout life contribute to premature aging of the immune system? She began her work as an infectious… Continue reading Grace Noppert
Levy,Helen G
Dr. Levy’s research interests include the causes and consequences of lacking health insurance, evaluation of public health insurance programs, and material hardship among older Americans. She is a Co-Investigator on the Health and Retirement Study, a long-running longitudinal study of health and economic dynamics at older ages.
Patrick, Megan E.
Megan Patrick’s published research focuses on the development of substance use and consequences across the lifespan. Her interests include motivations for substance use, the prevention of health risk behaviors, statistical methods for modeling behavior and behavior change, and mobile and web-based survey methodology. She has been the PI of 10 NIH-funded projects and Co-Investigator on… Continue reading Patrick, Megan E.