Study explores link between epigenetic aging and racial, economic injustice

Nancy Krieger is an author on an original investigation published in JAMA Network Open that is the subject of a featured news story on the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health website. A key finding from the study is that there was significantly accelerated epigenetic aging (biological age that does not necessarily align with chronological age) among Black study participants who were born in a state under Jim Crow and/or in a state with a high level of politically conservative policies in place. Biological aging was also more accelerated, across all racialized groups, among those participants who were born into households with low parental education.