Adolfo Cuevas
Adolfo Cuevas
Associate Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences
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Professional overview
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Adolfo G. Cuevas, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at NYU's School of Global Public Health, where he also co-directs the BioSocial Research Initiative (BSRI). His research examines how psychosocial stressors influence health across the lifespan, using epidemiological, psychological, and biological approaches to understand these relationships.
Dr. Cuevas currently leads three NIH-funded projects, totaling nearly $7 million, that investigate the effect of psychosocial stressors on biological dysregulation. These studies investigate how psychosocial stress contributes to biological dysregulation. His first project (R01DK137805; 2024–2029) addresses a key gap in the field by examining how social adversity affects allostatic load across three life course stages and identifying gene expression pathways that link adversity to biological stress. It is also the first study to assess how social relationships—such as kinship and community ties—buffer the impact of social adversity on gene expression and stress physiology. His two additional projects (R01DK137246 and R01MD019251) explore the role of neighborhood and interpersonal stress in obesity across developmental stages, from childhood to older adulthood, with a focus on molecular indicators of stress-related proinflammatory biology that may contribute to adipose tissue formation.
Dr. Cuevas’ work has appeared in leading journals including Annals of Internal Medicine, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, and American Journal of Public Health. It has also been featured by media outlets such as Forbes, USA Today, and NPR’s Code Switch.
In recognition of his contributions to research on stress and health, Dr. Cuevas has received numerous honors, including the Herbert Weiner Early Career Award, the National Minority Quality Forum’s 40 Under 40 Leaders in Minority Health Award, and the Diversity Scholar Award from the Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard University.
Prior to joining NYU, he was the Gerald R. Gill Assistant Professor of Race, Culture, and Society at Tufts University. He earned his PhD and MS in applied psychology from Portland State University and completed postdoctoral training at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
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Education
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PhD, Applied Psychology, Portland State UniversityMS, Applied Psychology, Portland State UniversityBA, Psychology, City College of New York, 2010Certificate, Applied Biostatistics, Harvard Catalyst
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Honors and awards
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National Institute of Health Loan Repayment-Renewal (2021)Diversity Scholar Award, Nutrition Obesity Research Center, Harvard University (2019)National Institute of Health Loan Repayment (2019)40 Under 40 Leaders in Health, National Minority Quality Forum (2018)Neubauer Faculty Fellowship, Tufts University (2017)Portland African American Leadership Fellowship (2013)National Cancer Institute R25E Summer Research Experience, The University of Texas MD, Anderson’s Cancer Prevention Research Training Program (2012)Bernard R. Ackerman Foundation Award for Outstanding Scholarship (2010)Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge Graduate of the Year (2010)City University of New York Pipeline Fellowship (2009)City University of New York Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge (SEEK) Scholarship (2009)Psi Chi Honor Society (2009)Dean’s List Scholar (20082009)Chi Alpha Epsilon (XAE) Honor Society (2008)City College of New York’s William Wright Scholarship (2008)City College of New York Community Service Award (2008)SEEK Scholarship (2008)
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Areas of research and study
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ObesityPsychosocial StressRacial/Ethnic Disparities
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Publications
Publications
Discrimination Exposure and Polygenic Risk for Obesity in Adulthood: Testing Gene-Environment Correlations and Interactions
Failed retrieving data.Genetic Liability, Exposure Severity, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Predict Cognitive Impairment in World Trade Center Responders
Failed retrieving data.Genetic Liability, Exposure Severity, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Predict Cognitive Impairment in World Trade Center Responders
Failed retrieving data.Intersectional vulnerability in the relationship between discrimination and inflammatory gene expression
Failed retrieving data.Parental education and epigenetic aging in middle-aged and older adults in the United States : A life course perspective
Failed retrieving data.Perceived intrinsic, social, and environmental barriers for weight management in older Hispanic/Latino adults with obesity
Failed retrieving data.The relationship between subjective social status, mental health disparities, and the mediating role of discrimination among Latinx populations
Failed retrieving data.Use of Bland-Altman Analysis to Examine the Racial and Ethnic Representativeness of Study Populations in Community-Based Pediatric Health Research
Failed retrieving data.Assessing the role of socioeconomic status and discrimination exposure for racial disparities in inflammation
Failed retrieving data.Contested racial identity and the health of women and their infants
Failed retrieving data.Examining the relationship between household wealth and colorectal cancer screening behaviors among U.S. men aged 45–75
Failed retrieving data.How Should Health Equity Researchers Consider Intersections of Race and Ethnicity in Afro-Latino Communities?
Failed retrieving data.Medical mistrust, discrimination, and COVID-19 vaccine behaviors among a national sample U.S. adults
Failed retrieving data.Racial Disparities in Cognitive Function Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults : The Roles of Cumulative Stress Exposures Across the Life Course
Failed retrieving data.Socially Assigned Race and the Health of Racialized Women and Their Infants
Failed retrieving data.Stressful Life Events and Obesity in the United States : The Role of Nativity and Length of Residence
Failed retrieving data.Technical report : an online international weight control registry to inform precision approaches to healthy weight management
Failed retrieving data.The Association Between Post-Traumatic Stress and Depressive Symptoms Among Older Puerto Ricans in Boston : How Does Loneliness Matter?
Failed retrieving data.The Association Between Veteran Status and Obesity Differs Across Race/Ethnicity
Failed retrieving data.The weight of childhood adversity : evidence that childhood adversity moderates the impact of genetic risk on waist circumference in adulthood
Failed retrieving data.Cumulative stress : A general “s” factor in the structure of stress
Failed retrieving data.Developmental timing of initial racial discrimination exposure is associated with cardiovascular health conditions in adulthood
Failed retrieving data.Discrimination and anxiety : Using multiple polygenic scores to control for genetic liability
Failed retrieving data.Infant Health for Arab and Non-Arab Mothers Identifying as White, Black, or Other in Massachusetts
Failed retrieving data.Longitudinal analysis of psychosocial stressors and body mass index in middle-aged and older adults in the United States
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