Mateo Farina

About

Since 2023, Mateo Farina has served on the faculty in the University of Texas at Austin Department of Human Development and as a Faculty Research Associate in the Population Research Center and the Center on Aging and Population Sciences. His research investigates the life course origins of biological, physical, and cognitive aging in older adulthood, focusing on how life course pathways differ across populations and the role of biosocial mechanisms in health and health disparities. He utilizes both individual and population level data, employing demographic and statistical methods, with particular expertise in longitudinal research methods. Farina’s work has been supported by the National Institute of Aging to explore how epigenetics can be used to understand cognitive aging and its connection to social and environmental exposures throughout the life course. He is also involved in collecting biomarker and cognitive functioning data on populations that have been excluded from existing datasets, contributing to a broader understanding of aging processes across diverse groups.

Research topics

• Psychiatry
• Medicine
• Psychology
• Gerontology
• Sociology
• Political Science
• Social psychology
• Economics
• Developmental psychology
• Geography

Selected publications

• Approaches to Timescale Choice in Cognitive Aging Research and Potential Implications for Estimated Exposure Effects: Coordinated Analyses in 10 Cohorts of Older Adults

  Epidemiology · 2025-03-31 · 3 citations

  article

  BACKGROUND: Cognitive change is an important factor in understanding dementia. Estimating effects of exposures on cognitive change requires choosing an analytical timescale, typically time on study or current age. There is limited consensus regarding timescale choice in epidemiologic cognitive aging research. METHODS: Using a coordinated analytic approach in 10 cohorts of older adults, we evaluated whether estimated effects of two exposures on memory change differed depending on timescale (time…

  PublisherDOI

• How much can biomarkers explain sociodemographic inequalities in cognitive dysfunction and cognitive impairment? Results from a machine learning model in the Health and Retirement Study

  Journal of Alzheimer s Disease · 2025-05-05 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  BackgroundBiomarkers may be pathways by which social adversity affects cognitive aging and Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) risk.ObjectiveHow much variance in cognitive dysfunction and cognitive impairment onset do blood-based and physiological biomarkers provide above and beyond easily attainable sociodemographic variables, and how much can biomarkers explain differences in cognitive functioning and ADRD by sociodemographic variables?MethodsWe utilize machine learning to generat…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The “long arm of childhood” on mortality in older adulthood in the United States and Brazil: examining the role of educational attainment and differences by gender

  American Journal of Epidemiology · 2025-08-20 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Early life conditions are associated with later life health. However, research in this area has been based on high-income countries, with limited research in low- and middle-income countries. We examine how childhood conditions are associated with mortality in older adulthood in the United States and Brazil, while evaluating the role of educational attainment and gender differences. Data come from the HRS and ELSI-Brazil. We use structural equation modeling to examine direct and indirect pathway…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Neighborhood Social and Physical Environment and Cognitive Function Among Brazilian Adults Aged 50+

  The Journals of Gerontology Series B · 2025-05-21 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  OBJECTIVES: Positive perceptions of the neighborhood environment are associated with better cognitive functioning in older adulthood. However, little is known about the significance of neighborhoods for cognitive function in lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where this association may be augmented by limited resources and higher economic inequality. This study examined the association between neighborhood characteristics and cognitive functioning among Brazilians aged 50+. METHODS: Usi…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• How “Clocking in” Ages Us: An Examination of Work History, Work Quality, and Accelerated Epigenetic Aging in Older Adulthood

  Journal of Health and Social Behavior · 2026-04-30 · 1 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Consistent employment, especially secure, high-wage employment, has well-documented associations with lower risk of later-life morbidity and mortality, and accelerated biological aging may underlie these associations. Although research evaluating employment and accelerated epigenetic aging is growing, questions remain about the implications of chronic work-related exposures for accelerated aging. This study uses longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and the 2016 HRS Venous…

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Eileen M. Crimmins

  University of Southern California

  15 shared

• Mark D. Hayward

  The University of Texas at Austin

  13 shared

• Jennifer Ailshire

  University of Southern California

  11 shared

• Jung Ki Kim

  University of Southern California

  7 shared

• Jennifer Karas Montez

  Syracuse University

  6 shared

• Rachel Donnelly

  Vanderbilt University

  6 shared

• Katrina M. Walsemann

  University of Maryland, College Park

  5 shared

• Anna Zajacova

  4 shared

Awards & honors

• National Institute of Aging (K99/R00)

Similar researchers at University of Texas at Austin

• Karen Fingermanh-51