Center on Biodemography and Population Health (CBPH)

USC-Davis School of Gerontology building

University of Southern California & University of California, Los Angeles

CBPH is a multi-site center located at the Andrus Gerontology Center at USC and the Program in Geriatric Medicine at UCLA. The Center’s primary aim is to provide a synergistic research environment for the integration and translation of research findings from a variety of disciplines to better understand population health. It supports the Biomarker Network, which is dedicated to improving measures of biological risk for late-life health outcomes – measures critical in monitoring population health.

Research Themes
Biology, genetics and demography of aging; Cognitive aging and the demography of dementia; Determinants of health, well-being and longevity; Health trends and disparities

Pilot Projects

  • 2021. Courtney S. Thomas Tobin. Evaluating the Role of Allostatic Load in the Association between Mental and Physical Health among Black and White Adults.


  • 2021. Eric T. Klopack . Epigenetic Signature of Childhood Adversity in Older Adults.


  • 2021. Lauren Schmitz, Teresa Seeman. arly Life Adversity Associations with Later Life Epigenetic Profiles: The Multi- Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).


  • 2021. Leandro Siqueira Carvalho . Poverty and Epigenetic Aging.


  • 2021. Marco Angrisani . The Online Memory Training Study in a Population Representative Panel .


  • 2020. Gregory Miller. Pro-inflammatory Gene Pathways Mediating SES Disparities in Population Health across Adult Development.


  • 2020. Jennifer Ailshire. Exposure to Neurotoxins, DNA Methylation, Inflammatory Mechanisms, and Cognitive Aging.


  • 2019. Andrew J. Fuligni. Family Stress and Inflammation-Related Gene Expression in Parent-Adolescent Dyads.


  • 2019. Elizabeth Zelinski. Understanding the role of subjective cognitive decline in determining risk of cognitive impairment cognitive impairment.


  • 2019. Jinkook Lee. Age, Literacy, and Magnetic Resonance Markers of Brain Integrity in LASI-DAD.


  • 2019. Kelly E. Rentscher. Chronic Stress and Accelerated Biological Aging: Social Support as a Protective Factor.


  • 2018. Catalina Zavala. Teasing Apart the Basis for Genetic and Environmental Associations Between Resources in Adolescence, Educational Attainment, and Occupational Complexity in Adulthood.


  • 2018. Kelly E. Rentscher. Stress and Aging Biology: Couples' Relationship Quality as a Protective Factor.


  • 2018. Kia Skrine Jeffers. Unfair Treatment within Employment, Criminal Justice, Education and Housing and Cardiometabolic Risk in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).


  • 2018. Thalida E. Arpawong. Characterizing the dynamic relationship between cardiovascular disease risk factors and cognitive ability over time.


  • 2017. Kelvin Yen. Modulation of cognitive decline by genetic variation in the mitochondrial humanin gene.


  • 2017. Margie Lachman. Physiological dysregulation as a predictor of cognitive decline.


  • 2017. Rebecca Melrose; Suzie El-Saden; David Sultzer. Neural markers of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in dementia: A VA medical chart review study.


  • 2017. Thalida E. Arpawong. Processing speed in aging: Mechanisms for ability and change related to genes and sex.


  • 2016. Arie Kapteyn. Devices to measure multiple physiological parameters in survey populations.


  • 2016. Deena Goldwater. Evaluating allostatic load as a predictor or cardiovascular disease risk relative to the ACC/AHA pooled cohort risk equation: Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).


  • 2016. Emma Aguila. Measuring the Effects of an Experimental Social Security Program for Poor Older Adults using Biomarkers Data.


  • 2016. Hiram Beltran-Sanchez. Estimating the Impact of Obesity on Adult Mortality: Assessment of Errors with Applications to the U.S., Costa Rica, Mexico and Puerto Rico.


  • 2015. Arun S Karlamangla. System dynamics in aging physiological systems: Implications of burnout, reactivity, and recovery.


  • 2015. Carol Prescott, Tara Gruenewald, Margaret Gatz & Jack McArdle. Development and Validation of Self-Administered Tablet Computer Cognitive Assessment.


  • 2015. David S. Black. Gene Transcription Profiling of Fatigue in Hispanic Colorectal Cancer Survivors: Targeting Residual Symptoms after Completion of Cancer Treatment in and Aging Probability Sample.


  • 2015. Patrick Heuveline. Launching a New Study of the Long-Term Health and Wellbeing Consequences of Malnutrition: A Feasibility Study and Rapid Assessment.


  • 2014. Steve Cole & Morgan Levine. Genome-wide Transcriptome Profiling in an HRS Pilot Sample.


  • 2014. Jennifer Ailshire, Sharon Merkin & Brian Finch. Economic Conditions & Social Disparities in Biological Risk among US Adults.


  • 2014. Keyonna King, Pinchas Cohen & Teresa Seeman. Assessing Biological Mechanisms Underlying Psycho-social & Cognitive Benefits of a Multi-Factorial Inter-Generational Intervention for Older Adults .


  • 2014. Peifeng Hu & Jinkook Lee. SES Gradients of Metabolic Syndrome in China and India.


  • 2012. John Strauss. Measuring Cognitive Function in Developing Countries.


  • 2012. Susan Enguidanos. Relationship and Timing of Advance Directives and Stated Care Preference on Frequency and Type of Care Setting Transitions in the Last Six Months of Life.


  • 2011. Thomas McDade. Dried blood spot methods for evaluating the regulation of inflammation.



Center Administrator/Media Contact: Eileen Crimmins