Adolfo Cuevas
Adolfo Cuevas
Assistant Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences
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Professional overview
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Adolfo G. Cuevas, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at NYU's School of Global Public Health, and serves as Deputy Director of the Center for Anti-Racism, Social Justice, and Public Health. His research focuses on how discrimination and other psychosocial stressors affect health across the lifespan, employing epidemiological, psychological, and biological approaches to explore these relationships.
Dr. Cuevas currently leads two NIH-funded projects, totaling nearly $4 million, that investigate the effect of neighborhood and interpersonal discrimination on biological dysregulation. The first project (R01DK137805; 2024-2029) addresses a critical gap by examining how discrimination influences allostatic load across three life course stages and identifying gene expression pathways linking discrimination to biological stress. It is also the first to assess how social relationships—such as kinship and community ties—can mitigate the impact of discrimination on gene expression and stress. His second project (R01DK137246; 2024-2029) is the first to longitudinally assess both neighborhood and interpersonal discrimination in relation to obesity, exploring the molecular indicators of stress-related proinflammatory biology that may promote adipose tissue formation.
Dr. Cuevas co-directs the BioSocial Reseach Initiative and is involved in the International Weight Control Registry and the Afro-Latino Health working group. In addition to his NIH-funded projects, he serves as Co-Investigator on several initiatives examining racial biases in healthcare and the neurobiological effects of racism. His research has been featured 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. His work has also been highlighted by media outlets such as Forbes, HuffPost, and NPR's Code Switch.
For his contributions to research on race, racism, and health, Dr. Cuevas was named one of the National Minority Quality Forum’s 40 Under 40 Leaders in Minority Health and received 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
Financial strain and cancer risk behaviors among African Americans
AbstractAdvani, P. S., Reitzel, L. R., Nguyen, N. T., Fisher, F. D., Savoy, E. J., Cuevas, A. G., Wetter, D. W., & McNeill, L. H. (n.d.).Publication year
2014Journal title
Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and PreventionVolume
23Issue
6Page(s)
967-975AbstractBackground: African Americans suffer disproportionately from the adverse consequences of behavioral risk factors for cancer relative to other ethnic groups. Recent studies have assessed how financial strain might uniquely contribute to engagement in modifiable behavioral risk factors for cancer, but not among African Americans. The current study examined associations between financial strain and modifiable cancer risk factors (smoking, at-risk alcohol use, overweight/obesity, insufficient physical activity, inadequate fruit and vegetable intake, and multiple risk factors) among 1,278 African American adults (age, 46.5 ± 12.6 years; 77% female) and explored potential mediators (stress and depressive symptoms) of those associations. Methods: Logistic regression models were used to examine associations between financial strain and cancer risk factors. Analyses were adjusted for age, sex, partner status, income, educational level, and employment status. Analyses involving overweight/obesity status additionally controlled for fruit and vegetable intake and physical activity. Nonparametric bootstrapping procedures were used to assess mediation. Results: Greater financial strain was associated with greater odds of insufficient physical activity (P < 0.003) and smoking (P = 0.005) and was positively associated with the total number of cancer risk factors (P < 0.0001). There was a significant indirect effect of both stress and depressive symptoms on the relations of financial strain with physical inactivity and multiple risk factors, respectively. Conclusions: Future interventions aimed at reducing cancer disparities should focus on African Americans experiencing higher financial strain while addressing their stress and depressive symptoms. Impact: Longitudinal studies are needed to assess the temporal and causal relations between financial strain and modifiable behavioral cancer risk factors among African Americans.Financial strain and self-rated health among black adults
AbstractSavoy, E. J., Reitzel, L. R., Nguyen, N., Advani, P. S., Fisher, F. D., Wetter, D. W., Cuevas, A. G., & McNeill, L. H. (n.d.).Publication year
2014Journal title
American Journal of Health BehaviorVolume
38Issue
3Page(s)
340-350AbstractObjectives: To explore associations between financial strain and self-rated health among 1341 black adults. Methods: Associations were investigated using a covariate-adjusted linear regression model. Mediation (via stress and/ or depressive symptoms) was explored in additional models using a nonparametric bootstrapping procedure. Results: Higher financial strain was associated with poorer self-rated health (p < .001). Stress and depressive symptoms were each significant mediators of this relation in both single and multiple mediator models (p values < .05). Conclusions: Financial strain may contribute to poorer health among black adults, partially via greater stress and depressive symptoms. Potential theoretical, intervention, and policy implications are discussed. Future studies with longitudinal designs are needed to confirm these results.Loneliness and self-rated health among church-attending African Americans
AbstractFisher, F. D., Reitzel, L. R., Nguyen, N., Savoy, E. J., Advani, P. S., Cuevas, A. G., Vidrine, J. I., Wetter, D. W., & McNeill, L. H. (n.d.).Publication year
2014Journal title
American Journal of Health BehaviorVolume
38Issue
4Page(s)
481-491AbstractObjectives: To explore relations between loneliness and self-rated health among African-American adults of diverse ages. Methods: Associations between loneliness and self-rated health were investigated using covariate-adjusted linear regression models. Perceived social support was examined as a moderator. The potential indirect effects of stress and/or depressive symptoms were examined using nonparametric bootstrapping procedures. Results: Greater loneliness was associated with poorer self-rated health (p = .008), and social support did not moderate. Stress and depressive symptoms yielded significant indirect effects in single and multiple mediator models (p values ≤ 05). Conclusions: Loneliness may contribute to poorer health among African Americans. Results suggest that greater stress and depressive symptoms might underlie these associations, but longitudinal studies are needed to assess causal relations.Mediators of discrimination and self-rated health among African Americans
AbstractCuevas, A. G., Reitzel, L. R., Cao, Y., Nguyen, N., Wetter, D. W., Adams, C. E., Watkins, K. L., Regan, S. D., & McNeill, L. H. (n.d.).Publication year
2013Journal title
American Journal of Health BehaviorVolume
37Issue
6Page(s)
745-754AbstractObjectives: To examine whether stress and depressive symptoms mediated relationships of perceived discrimination and self-rated health among African Americans. Methods: A nonparametric bootstrapping procedure was used to assess mediation, controlling for sociodemographic variables, among 1406 cohort study adults (age=45.5±12.6, 25.1% male). Results: Greater discrimination was associated with poorer selfrated health (β=-.010, SE=.003, p = .001). Stress and depressive symptoms were each significant mediators of this relationship in single and multiple mediator models (ps ≤ 05). Conclusions: Perceived discrimination may contribute to poorer self-rated health among African Americans through heightened levels of stress and depression. Interventions addressing these mechanisms might help reduce the impact of discrimination on health. Definitive results await longitudinal study designs to assess causal pathways.