Interdisciplinary approaches are fundamental to decode the biology of adversity

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted structural inequalities and racism promoting health disparities among communities of color. Taking cardiovascular disease as an example, we provide a framework for multidisciplinary efforts leveraging translational and epidemiologic approaches to decode the biological impacts of inequalities and racism and develop targeted interventions that promote health equity.

Figure 1

A framework to address the biology of adversity Structural inequalities and racism cause Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Pacific Islander populations to disproportionately experience adverse social determinants of health, including poor housing conditions, lower individual-level socioeconomic status, decreased access to healthy food (food deserts), higher likelihood of living in polluted and economically deprived neighborhoods, and/or decreased access to health care. The psychosocial and environmental stressors related to these social determinants of health alter biology within the human body, including the immune system. It will be of utmost importance for scientists to use interdisciplinary approaches, particularly in the context of community engagement, to further understand the biology of adversity in relation to diseases like CVD. Additionally, now is the time to investigate the impact of multi-level interventions on the biology of adversity to address health disparities and promote health equity.