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Dr. Heather Farmer

Assistant Professor,
University of Delaware

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Contact Details

University of Delaware
Newark, PA

Dr. Heather Farmer


Assistant Professor,
University of Delaware

Bio

Dr. Heather Farmer is an assistant professor specializing in the biopsychosocial processes underlying racial disparities in health among older adults in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Delaware. She teaches courses related to research methods at the undergraduate level. Her line of work integrates theory, innovative biomarker data, and longitudinal analyses of racial disparities in chronic disease physiology and outcomes using nationally-representative panel survey data on middle-aged and older adults in the Health and Retirement Study. Her research specifically focuses on the intersections of race, gender, and socioeconomic status (SES) in producing health disparities in older adults. Her work also focuses on the socioeconomic, psychosocial, and biological mechanisms responsible for such disparities, particularly the role that stress has in contributing to disparities in physiological deterioration (e.g., inflammation, cardiometabolic dysregulation) across the life course.

Education

Duke University
Durham, North Carolina, United States
Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2020
Aging and Human Development

Pennsylvania State University
University Park, Pennsylvania, United States
Ph.D., 2018
Biobehavioral Health

Job History

University of Delaware
Assistant Professor
Newark, DE, United States
August 2020 - present

Areas Of Expertise

  • Demography
  • Disease Epidemiology: Conditions, Processes, and Results
  • Disease Epidemiology: Risk
  • Ethnic Groups
  • Ethnic Groups: African-American/Black American/African
  • Ethnic Groups: Hispanic/Spanish
  • Gerontology
  • Health Promotion
  • Health Promotion: Stress Reduction
  • Mental Health Dysfunction: Stress/Coping
  • Neuroendocrine System: Physiology
  • Social Support

Discipline

  • Public Health