The ability to treat and prevent illness and improve human health requires not only a detailed understanding of the complex interplay of biological systems contributing to disease processes but also the mechanisms underlying the influence of social complexity on biological systems. A developmental systems science approach provides methods uniquely suited to elucidate the mechanisms by which social systems influence health by investigating their effects on modulating the interplay among biological systems during development. The proposed research adopts this approach by modeling multi-level networked systems over time in a well-established nonhuman primate model. We predict that the coordination and regulation of biological systems within individuals are critical to shaping health trajectories and are dynamically modulated by the complex network structure of individuals' social relationships.
Existing research has demonstrated that our social environments greatly impact our health. How early this relationship is established and how infant development shapes the impact of social environment on health is unknown. This project will evaluate multiple facets of infant development (social, physiological, biological) as they relate to each other and to the development of social networks and health outcomes, allowing us to determine what aspects of social environment cause changes in health.
