Graduate Student Research Assistant Rachael is a second-year PhD student studying medical sociology and life course sociology/aging. Her research examines how social conditions and lived experiences at both the micro and macro levels become biologically embedded across the life course, shaping long-term health and aging trajectories. Using longitudinal data and preclinical biomarkers, such as measures of accelerated biological aging and neurodegenerative risk, she identifies early opportunities for prevention and healthspan extension. She also concentrates on populations historically underrepresented in aging research, particularly Black Americans and women, to better understand mechanisms behind health disparities and how social disadvantage and resilience jointly shape long-term health. Rachael is currently a research assistant and collaborates on projects with researchers in the Families, Communities, and Health Workshop and the Center on Biological Embedding of Social Events and Relationships. She has also served as a teaching assistant for several courses in the department and delivered guest lectures on racial/ethnic disparities in aging and on analyzing and interpreting quantitative data. Education Education: B.S. in Psychology - University of Georgia, 2023 Other Affiliations: Enter the name of department or institution you are affiliated with Research Research Areas: Medical Sociology Family, Life Course, and Aging Labs: Families, Communities, and Health Workshop Selected Publications Selected Publications: Lei, M.-K., Weaver, R. D., Beach, S. R. H., & Mielke, M. M. (2026). Racial discrimination accelerates age-related increases in serum neurofilament light chain among African American women: Examination of change from midlife to older adulthood. The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, gbag401. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbag041 Weaver, R. D. & Lei, M.-K. (2026). Comorbid diabetes and hypertension in early adulthood predict neurodegeneration in midlife: Insights across racial/ethnic groups using a blood-based biomarker of dementia risk. Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Behavior & Socioeconomics of Aging, e70069. https://doi.org/10.1002/bsa3.70069 Lei, M.-K. & Weaver, R. D. (2025). The buffering effect of social support on the link between biologically embedded childhood maltreatment and adult cardiovascular disease. Social Science and Medicine, 384, 118530. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118530 Simons, R. L., Ong, M. L., Lei, M.-K., Beach, S. R. H., Lu, Y.-W., Weaver, R. D., & Mielke, M. M. (2025). Diabetes and hypertension at midlife predict increases in biomarkers of dementia among Black Americans. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-025-02310-2 Rigg, K. K., Weaver, R. D., & Kusiak, E. (2023). Attitudes toward methadone treatment among Black/African Americans: Implications for engagement and retention. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 93(6), 476-485. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000692.
