Tuesday, September 16, 2025
1:00-2:00pm ET

6050 ISR-Thompson
426 Thompson St.

Or via zoom:
Meeting ID: 963 2984 2793
Passcode: 685977

Register to attend

Abstract
The immune system not only defends against pathogens but also reflects the cumulative impact of the social environment across the life course. Inequities in stress, trauma, and neighborhood conditions become biologically embedded in immune cells, shaping patterns of immunosenescence. By examining how the aging immune system captures these lived experiences, we can use it as a “social sensor” to trace the biological consequences of inequity. Drawing on analysis of the Health and Retirement Study and the National Neighborhood Data Archive NaNDA data, this seminar will bridge social and biological sciences, offering unique insights into population health.

Biography
Dr. Grace Noppert is a social and infectious disease epidemiologist whose work bridges the biological and the social, examining how trauma, persistent viral infections, and neighborhood environments shape immune aging at the cellular level. Her interdisciplinary research portfolio includes grant-funded studies on immunosenescence, infectious disease disparities, and biomarker innovation. By integrating diverse data sources—including biomarker assays, health records, social histories, and neighborhood-level contextual data—she uncovers how lived experience becomes biologically embedded, with implications for population health and aging.