How historic redlining and neighborhood conditions affect health in middle age
The impact of redlining and place-based factors on health at mid-life
This project links past housing discrimination and current neighborhood conditions to chronic and heart health for people in mid-life.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Michigan at Ann Arbor NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Ann Arbor, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11257300 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
The team is building a national database combining historical redlining maps, environmental hazard records, housing investment and gentrification measures, and long-term neighborhood demographics. They will connect those place-based data to health and mortality records to see how exposures like pollution or limited healthcare access relate to mid-life chronic and cardiovascular illness. Analyses will trace pathways from decades-old housing policies to present-day differences in illness and life expectancy across U.S. communities. Findings are meant to point to neighborhood-level policies or investments that could improve health for people in middle age.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Adults in mid-life (roughly ages 40–64) living in U.S. neighborhoods with varied histories of redlining are the primary population this research addresses.
Not a fit: People outside the mid-life age range or those living outside the United States are less likely to receive direct benefit from this specific project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could reveal neighborhood causes of mid-life chronic and heart disease and guide policies or investments to reduce health disparities.
How similar studies have performed: Prior studies have linked historic redlining to shorter life expectancy and higher chronic disease rates, but the detailed causal pathways remain under-studied.
Where this research is happening
Ann Arbor, United States
- University of Michigan at Ann Arbor — Ann Arbor, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Meier, Helen Carmon Spink — University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
- Study coordinator: Meier, Helen Carmon Spink
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.