Course Impact of Epigenetic Age Acceleration on Racial and Neighborhood Disparities in Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain

Life expectancy can differ by as much as 20 years for people living in different neighborhoods of the same city. Age-related chronic disease outcomes also differ greatly by place, with residents of more affluent neighborhoods living longer, healthier lives. Frequently, high deprivation neighborhoods are majority-minority. However, the biological pathways for how race, place, and health intersect - culminating in health disparities and shorter life expectancy - have not been well examined. In this presentation, Dr. Jackson discusses multiple research studies that have explored race, neighborhood deprivation, and epigenetic age acceleration as antecedents for disparities in chronic musculoskeletal pain outcomes. Pamela Jackson, PhD, RN, MLT(ASCP)BB is a nurse scientist and an Assistant Professor in the department of Environmental Health Sciences in the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Jackson’s research focuses on the influence of neighborhood-level environmental exposures on the pace of biological aging. Jackson is particularly interested in the adverse health impacts of climate change on socioeconomically vulnerable communities and using community-engaged approaches to examine the intersection of climate and health. Dr. Jackson has an extensive 20+ year history working in healthcare systems and grew up in socioeconomically vulnerable neighborhoods - bringing inherent ties and shared perspective with communities' environmental concerns. Jackson was selected as a member of the 2023 cohort of the NIH/NIEHS Environmental Health Research Institute for Nurse and Clinician Scientists. Her work has resulted in multiple peer-reviewed publications; local, state, and national conference presentations; and grant funding from NIH/NIA.