Associate Professor Man Kit (Karlo) Lei is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology and a core faculty member of the Center on Biological Embedding of Social Events and Relationships. He holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Georgia. Dr. Lei's teaching and research areas encompass diverse topics, including the sociology of health, criminology, structural inequality, family and neighborhood studies, and quantitative methods. Dr. Lei's research stands at the intersection of various disciplines, as he employs diverse theories and methodologies to explore the social determinants of health, aging, and well-being throughout the human lifespan. His particular focus lies in studying minority populations and disadvantaged neighborhoods. Recently, he has been driven by three fundamental questions that shape his endeavors: 1. How does a deeper understanding of the social determinants influence overall well-being? 2. What are the mechanisms and reasons behind the impact of early adversity experiences on well-being across one's life journey? 3. Why do specific individuals, when exposed to social adversity, experience adverse outcomes while others do not? His contributions to the field have been acknowledged through numerous publications in esteemed social science journals, including American Sociological Review, the Journals of Gerontology, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Justice Quarterly, Social Science and Medicine, Psychological Medicine, Journal of Family Psychology, Health Psychology, and Family Process. Furthermore, Dr. Lei has been recognized with several prestigious awards, such as the Gene Carte Award, the Joan Petersilia Outstanding Article Award from the American Society of Criminology, the Donal MacNamara Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, and the Best Paper Award from the American Sociological Association's Section on Evolution, Biology & Society. Most recently, he was honored with the Charles B. Knapp Early Career Scholar Award from the University of Georgia. This distinguished award, named in memory of the University's 20th President, acknowledges exceptional accomplishments and demonstrates the potential for future success in scholarship, creative work, or research by an early-career faculty member in the social and behavioral sciences. Education Education: Ph.D., Sociology, University of Georgia, 2013 M.A., Sociology, National Taiwan University, 2001 LL.B., College of Law (Economic and Financial Law Division), National Taiwan University, 1999 Research Research Areas: Medical Sociology Inequality Family, Life Course, and Aging Crime, Law, and Deviance Grants: 2022-2025. Co-Investigator, "Stress, Weathering, and Blood-Based Biomarkers of Alzheimer's Disease: A Longitudinal Study of Low Income, Aging African Americans." National Institute on Aging. 2018-2023. Co-Investigator, "Using a Randomized Prevention Trial to Understand the Health Benefits of Supportive Couple Relationships among Rural African American Adults." National Institute on Aging. 2018-2023. Co-Investigator, "Contextual and Health Behavior Effects on Epigenetic Aging Among African Americans." National Cancer Institute. 2020-2022. Principal Investigator, Workgroup on Families, Communities, and Health, Office of Research, University of Georgia. 2017-2022. Co-Investigator, "Psychosocial Context and the Biological Clock: Changes in Weathering during Middle Age." National Institute on Aging. 2019-2021. Co-Investigator, “Childhood Stressors and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Adulthood: A Longitudinal Investigation of Divergent Explanatory Models.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Labs: Families, Communities, and Health Workshop Selected Publications Selected Publications: Lei, Man-Kit, Mei Ling Ong, Ronald L. Simons, and Steven R. H. Beach. Forthcoming. “Biological Aging and Its Association with Serum Neurofilament Light Chain Levels in Middle-Aged African Americans: An Observational Study.” Aging Advances. Lei, Man-Kit, Steven R. H. Beach, Ronald L. Simons, and Michelle M. Mielke. 2025. “Cumulative Socioeconomic Status Risk is Associated with Greater Increase in Serum Neurofilament Light Chain Levels Among Middle-Aged Black Adults.” Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences 80: glae253. Lei, Man-Kit and Steven R. H. Beach. 2024. “Testing Whether Protective Parenting is a Causal Mediator of Intervention Effects on Decreased Delinquency Using a Randomized Prevention Trial.” Justice Quarterly 41: 870-891. Lei, Man-Kit, Stephenie L. Hanus, Leslie G. Simons, Ronald L. Simons, and Steven R. H. Beach. 2024. “Racial Discrimination Predicts Subjective Cognitive Decline: Perceived Relationship Support Buffers the Association.” Social Science & Medicine 361:117341. Lei, Man-Kit, Mark T. Berg, Ronald L. Simons., and Steven R. H. Beach. 2023. “Specifying the Psychosocial Pathways Whereby Child and Adolescent Adversity Shape Adult Health Outcomes.” Psychological Medicine 53: 6027-6036. Lei, Man-Kit and Steven R. H. Beach. 2023. “Neighborhood Disadvantage is Associated with Biological Aging: Intervention-Induced Enhancement of Couple Functioning Confers Resilience.” Family Process 62(2): 818-834. Lei, Man-Kit, Frederick X. Gibbons, M. Gerrard, Steven R. H. Beach, K. J. Dawes, and Robert A. Philibert. 2022. “Digital Methylation Assessments of Alcohol and Cigarette Consumption Account for Common Variance in Accelerated Epigenetic Aging.” Epigenetics: Official Journal of DNA Methylation Society 17(13): 1991-2005. Lei, Man-Kit, Gene H. Brody, and Steven R. H. Beach. 2022. “Intervention Effects on Self-Control Decreases Speed of Biological Aging Mediated by Changes in Substance Use: A Longitudinal Study of African American Youth.” Family Process 61: 659-673 Lei, Man-Kit, Justin A. Lavner, Sierra E. Carter, Olutosin Adesogan, and Steven R. H. Beach. 2022. “Relationship Intervention Indirectly Buffers Financial Strain's Effect on Biological Aging Among Black Adults.” Journal of Family Psychology 36: 501-512. Lei, Man-Kit, Mark T. Berg, Ronald L. Simons., and Steven R. H. Beach. 2022. “Neighborhood Structural Disadvantage and Biological Aging in a Sample of Black Middle Age and Young Adults.” Social Science & Medicine 293: 114654. Lei, Man-Kit, Justin A. Lavner, Sierra E. Carter, Ariel R. Hart, and Steven R. H. Beach. 2021. “Protective Parenting Behavior Buffers the Impact of Racial Discrimination on Depression among Black Youth.” Journal of Family Psychology 35: 457-467. Lei, Man-Kit and Steven R. H. Beach. 2020. “Can We Uncouple Neighborhood Disadvantage and Delinquent Behaviors? An Experimental Test of Family Resilience Guided by the Social Disorganization Theory of Delinquent Behaviors.” Family Process 59: 1801-1817. Lei, Man-Kit and Ronald L. Simons. 2020. “A Multilevel Structural Resilience Model: When and For Whom Do Neighborhoods Really Matter?” International Sociological Association eSymposium for Sociology 30: 1-12. Lei, Man-Kit and Eric T. Klopack. 2020. “Social and Psychological Consequences of the COVID-19 Outbreak: The Experiences of Taiwan and Hong Kong” Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy 12(S1): S35-S37. Selected Media Coverage: Psychology Today Lei, Man-Kit, Mark T. Berg, Ronald L. Simons., Leslie G. Simons, and Steven R. H. Beach. 2020. “Childhood Adversity and Cardiovascular Disease Risk: An Appraisal of Recall Methods with a Focus on Stress-Buffering Processes in Childhood and Adulthood.” Social Science & Medicine 246: 112794. Lei, Man-Kit, Ronald L. Simons, Steven R.H. Beach, and Robert A. Philibert. 2019. “Neighborhood Disadvantage and Biological Aging: Using Marginal Structural Models to Assess the Link between Neighborhood Census Variables and Epigenetic Aging.” Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences 74: e50-e59. Lei, Man-Kit, Steven R.H. Beach, and Ronald L. Simons. 2018. “Biological Embedding of Neighborhood Disadvantage and Collective Efficacy: Influences on Chronic Illness via Accelerated Cardiometabolic Age.” Development and Psychopathology 30: 1797-1815. Lei, Man-Kit, Steven R.H. Beach, and Ronald L. Simons. 2018. “Childhood Trauma, Pubertal Timing, and Cardiovascular Risk in Adulthood.” Health Psychology 37: 613-617. Lei, Man-Kit, Steven R.H. Beach, Meeshanthini V. Dogan, and Robert A. Philibert. 2017. “A Pilot Investigation of the Impact of Smoking Cessation on Biological Age.” American Journal on Addictions 26: 129-135. Lei, Man-Kit, Steven R.H. Beach, Ronald L. Simons, Ashley B. Barr, Carolyn E. Cutrona, and Robert A. Philibert. 2016. “Stress, Relationship Satisfaction, and Health among African American Women: Genetic Moderation of Effects.” Journal of Family Psychology 30: 221-232. Lei, Man-Kit, Steven R.H. Beach, Ronald L. Simons, and Robert A. Philibert. 2015. “Neighborhood Crime and Depressive Symptoms among African American Women: Genetic Moderation and Epigenetic Mediation of Effects.” Social Science & Medicine 146: 120-128. Lei, Man-Kit, Ronald L. Simons, Mary Bond Edmond, Leslie Gordon Simons, and Carolyn E. Cutrona. 2014. “The Effect of Neighborhood Disadvantage, Social Ties, and Genetic Variation on the Antisocial Behavior of African American Women: A Multilevel Analysis.” Development and Psychopathology 26: 1113-1128. Awards, Honors, and Recognition Of Note: Honors 2022 Charles B. Knapp Early Career Scholar Award, University of Georgia 2022. Donal MacNamara Award, Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences 2014. B. O. Williams Award for Dissertation Research, Department of Sociology, University of Georgia. 2013. Joan Petersilia Outstanding Article Award, American Society of Criminology. 2013. Certificate of Excellence, Department of Sociology, University of Georgia. 2012. First Prize, Gene Carte Student Paper Award, American Society of Criminology. 2012. The Best Graduate Student Paper Award, Evolution, Biology & Society Section, American Sociological Association. 2011. B. O. Williams Award for Thesis Research, Department of Sociology, University of Georgia. Elected Offices and Editorial Experience 2021-present. Associate Editor, Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine 2023-present. Editorial Board Member, Journal of Health and Social Behavior Courses Regularly Taught Courses Regularly Taught: SOCI 3580 SOCI 4000 SOCI 6620 SOCI 6630 SOCI 8630
