Shari Waldstein is internationally known for fundamental contributions to understanding the links among early, multi-level risk factors for cardiovascular disease, subclinical brain pathology, neurocognitive performance, and their development across the lifespan. As the 2015-2016 Lipitz Professor, Waldstein has continued her research by examining the complex associations among race, socioeconomic status and brain health, and she presented her work at the 2016 Lipitz Lecture on May 3.
The Lipitz professorship is supported by an endowment created by Roger C. Lipitz and the Lipitz Family Foundation “to recognize and support innovative and distinguished teaching and research in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences” at UMBC.
Waldstein, a professor of psychology, is a clinical psychologist who specializes in cardiovascular behavioral medicine and medical neuropsychology. In recent years, she has increasingly focused on identifying the multi-level mechanisms underlying race- and socioeconomic status-related disparities in cardiovascular and brain health. Waldstein holds a secondary faculty appointment as a professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and has worked with numerous colleagues across disciplines and institutions throughout her career.
“Dr. Waldstein’s work in sum lies at the intersection of the natural sciences, the medical sciences, and the social sciences, and is thus an amazing and wonderful example of the interdisciplinary, collaborative endeavors that our college and UMBC prize so highly,” shares Scott Casper, dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.
During her talk, Waldstein presented a general overview of how people think about brain health, identified some of the common cardiovascular risk factors that can be early determinants of brain health, and discussed the disparities associated with socioeconomic status and race with respect to brain health outcomes.
Waldstein explained that there are many cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors that are associated with less healthy brains across the lifespan ranging from children to the elderly, and that a lot of the risk factors that impact brain and cognition aggregate among persons with lower socioeconomic status. So far, her research investigation has shown that on average, people with lower socioeconomic status are showing some signs of less healthy brains, but the associations of race and socioeconomic status to brain health are complicated and require further investigation.
“We really need continued interdisciplinary collaboration to enhance our understanding of these very complex associations,” explains Waldstein. “Ultimately this will hopefully lead to prevention and intervention efforts with the multi-level factors that impinge our brains and that allow us to maximize brain health and cognitive functioning across the lifespan.”
Since coming to UMBC, Dr. Waldstein has been awarded more than $6,000,000 in grants and contracts. Her contributions to the profession of psychology are numerous. She has served for 18 years as director of the behavioral medicine track in UMBC’s human services psychology Ph.D. program and has mentored over 30 Ph.D. students. To read more about her work, visit the UMBC psychology department website.
Image: Shari Waldstein presents the Lipitz Lecture at UMBC, May 3, 2016. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.
Tags: CAHSS, Psychology, Research
