How stress, discrimination, and environmental racism affect health in Latino youth
Official title: Allostatic Load in Latino Youth (ALLY) study: The Role of Discrimination and Environmental Racism
Funded at California State University Northridge · NIH-11376306 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project measures how ongoing stress—including racial discrimination and harmful environmental conditions—affects stress-related body systems in Latino adolescents and young adults to help spot those at higher risk for type 2 diabetes.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | California State University Northridge NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Northridge, United States) |
| Project start | August 5, 2022 |
| Project end | June 30, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $142,031 |
| NIH project number | 3R16GM146675-04S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11376306 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are Latino/a/x adolescents and young adults (roughly ages 12–21) living in the Los Angeles area, especially those who have experienced discrimination or live in environmentally impacted neighborhoods.
✕Less likely to help
People who are not Latino youth, older adults, or who live far outside the Los Angeles area are unlikely to be eligible or directly benefit from participating.
What this research studies
You would be asked about your experiences with discrimination, your neighborhood, and daily life while researchers collect biological samples and health measures to create an allostatic load score that reflects wear-and-tear on your body. The team will combine surveys, neighborhood/environmental data, and lab markers (like blood tests) to look for links between psychosocial and environmental stressors and early signs of diabetes risk. The focus is on Latino youth in the Los Angeles area, using detailed measures of perceived and environmental racial discrimination. Participation may involve clinic visits, sample collection, and active follow-up over time.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could help identify Latino youth at higher risk for type 2 diabetes earlier and inform targeted prevention or support efforts.
How similar studies have gone: Prior research links chronic stress to higher allostatic load and cardiometabolic risk, but using detailed measures of racial discrimination and environmental racism specifically in Latino youth is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
California State University Northridge
Northridge, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Toledo-Corral, Claudia Michele — California State University Northridge
- Study coordinator: Toledo-Corral, Claudia Michele
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.