Lauren Schmitz

Lauren Schmitz is an associate professor of public affairs. She uses social, genomic, and epigenomic data to study how social inequalities shape disparities in health and socioeconomic attainment. Much of her work in this area has used quasi-experimental research designs and polygenic scores to better understand the degree to which policy-relevant social exposures and genetic diversity contribute to health and educational attainment. Other ongoing research examines workplace determinants of racial health disparities in birth outcomes, and the long-term effects of exposure to economic recessions in early childhood on physical and financial well-being at older ages. In 2017, she received a K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) to examine social determinants of epigenetic processes related to aging and neurodegenerative disease. Her research has been supported by the NIA, the National Science Foundation, the Social Security Administration, the Russell Sage Foundation, and the March of Dimes.

Selected Publications:

Opsasnick, Lauren A., Wei Zhao, Lauren L. Schmitz, Scott M. Ratliff, Jessica D. Faul, Xiang Zhou, Belinda L. Needham, and Jennifer A. Smith. “Epigenome-wide association study of long-term psychosocial stress in older adults.” Epigenetics 19, no. 1 (2024): 2323907.

Noghanibehambari, Hamid, Jason Fletcher, Lauren Schmitz, Valentina Duque, and Vikas Gawai. “Early-life economic conditions and old-age male mortality: evidence from historical county-level bank deposit data.” Journal of Population Economics 37, no. 1 (2024): 1-33.

Schmitz, Lauren L., Elizabeth Duffie, Wei Zhao, Scott M. Ratliff, Jingzhong Ding, Yongmei Liu, Sharon Stein Merkin, Jennifer A. Smith, and Teresa Seeman. “Associations of Early-Life Adversity With Later-Life Epigenetic Aging Profiles in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.” American Journal of Epidemiology 192, no. 12 (2023): 1991-2005.

Choi, Jerome J., Rebecca L. Koscik, Erin M. Jonaitis, Daniel J. Panyard, Autumn R. Morrow, Sterling C. Johnson, Corinne D. Engelman, and Lauren L. Schmitz. “Assessing the Biological Mechanisms Linking Smoking Behavior and Cognitive Function: A Mediation Analysis of Untargeted Metabolomics.” Metabolites 13, no. 11 (2023): 1154.

Duque, Valentina, and Lauren L. Schmitz. “Early-life Exposure to the Great Depression and Long-term Health and Economic Outcomes.“ Journal of Human Resources (2023).