Steve Cole
University of California-Los Angeles, CA·Public Health & Epidemiology
Can a sense of purpose and social connection strengthen the immune system's defense against viruses? COVID-19 hit older, socioeconomically disadvantaged African-Americans especially hard.
- Fields
Public Health & Epidemiology
Microbiology & Immunology
Psychology
- Topics
social genomics
conserved transcriptional response to adversity
eudaimonic well-being
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Feb 2028
What they work on
- Test in a randomized controlled trial of 160 older African-American adults whether the Generation Xchange mentoring program increases type I interferon antiviral responses and reduces hyper-inflammatory gene activity.
- Determine whether Generation Xchange lowers rates of clinical respiratory virus infection and symptomatic COVID, influenza and colds in a socioeconomically disadvantaged urban community.
- Identify which antiviral cell types, such as plasmacytoid dendritic cells and monocytes, and which gene regulatory processes protect against infection, using transcription factor activity and single-cell gene expression analyses.
- Relate protective biological factors to risks such as obesity, chronic disease, poor sleep and loneliness, and test whether program benefits hold across sex, education and risk level.
More about the research
The team's earlier research identified the conserved transcriptional response to adversity (CTRA). This is a stress-triggered gene program, switched on by fight-or-flight responses, that makes immune cells less antiviral and more inflammatory. Both effects are harmful in COVID-19. Their research also found that the CTRA is lower in people with high eudaimonic well-being, which includes purpose in life, generativity and pro-social engagement.
Why it matters
Older, low-income African-Americans have faced especially high risk from COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses. If the trial succeeds, it could establish a scalable community mentoring program, with defined biological mechanisms, that strengthens resistance to respiratory infection. It would also clarify which immune factors protect this vulnerable population.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
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The school
University of California-Los Angeles: 84 labs on PI Pages, $1.9B a year on research, 803 research doctorates a year.
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