Metabolism & Stress Assessment Lab

Our Research

Everyday life stressors and community level burdens have been shown to alter brain biology. Psychoendocrinology literature shows compelling evidence that stress-induced changes to the body may contribute to obesity and metabolic diseases. Specifically, psychosocial and environmental stressors can disrupt hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity, which in turn will alter cortisol levels throughout the day.

Allostasis is the term used for the body’s ability to maintain its biological “set points” for optimal function in the face of stressful demands. Allostatic load is known as the cumulative wear-and-tear on the body which results from stressful demands. The higher the number of biological systems that are impacted, the higher the allostatic load index. Various lifestyle diseases (such as cardiovascular disease and Type 2 Diabetes) can result from allostatic overload. Work in this area of research has implications for public health and health care practitioners by raising awareness of health risks associated with stress and the need for stress-reduction programs and interventions.

The overarching research aim of the ALLY study is to
examine the relationship between discrimination and allostatic load in the context of community/ environmental stressors. In this effort, we will characterize various perceived discrimination stressors (such as microaggressions and everyday discrimination) and assess their relationships with various allostatic load indices.

Since our lab is grounded in clinical epidemiological design, we only use quantitative methods. Our data are collected via self-reported surveys, health behavior assessments, and physiological measures from biospecimens.