Suzi Hong

About

Suzi Hong is a Professor at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health & Human Longevity Science at UCSD, with additional positions in Psychiatry. She was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, and completed her education with a BS in Exercise Science from Ewha Womans University, an MS in Exercise Psychology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a PhD in Exercise Psychobiology and Immunology from the University of Georgia, and a post-doctoral training in psychoneuroimmunology and behavioral medicine at UCSD. Her research interests include neuroendocrine and immune cell activation, exercise and immune system activation and adaptation, and inflammation and its cognitive and psychological impact. Her NIH-funded studies focus on immune cell activation and inflammation under sympathoadrenal activation among individuals with chronic inflammatory conditions, exploring implications for cardiovascular, psychosocial, and cognitive outcomes. She also investigates multi-system risk factors for cognitive outcomes in older adults and depression among socially under-resourced populations. Dr. Hong utilizes cellular immunology methods in her research and is the Director of UCSD's Integrative Health and Mind-Body Biomarker Core.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Political Science
• Psychology
• Internal medicine
• Immunology
• Psychiatry
• Intensive care medicine
• Virology
• Environmental health
• Medical emergency

Selected publications

• Are we facing a crashing wave of neuropsychiatric sequelae of COVID-19? Neuropsychiatric symptoms and potential immunologic mechanisms

  Brain Behavior and Immunity · 2020 · 982 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  DOI

• Deep Dive into the Long Haul: Analysis of Symptom Clusters and Risk Factors for Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 to Inform Clinical Care

  International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · 2022 · 43 citations

  = 2.83, 1.36-6.14). These results can inform clinicians in identifying patients at increased risk for Long COVID-related medical issues, particularly neurocognitive symptoms and symptom clusters, as well as informing health systems to manage operational expectations on a population-health level.

  DOI

• Differences in inflammation among black and white individuals: A systematic review and meta-analysis

  Brain Behavior and Immunity · 2025-03-16 · 11 citations

  review
  PublisherDOI

• Cell-type-specific and inflammatory DNA methylation patterns associated with PTSD

  Brain Behavior and Immunity · 2025-04-24 · 5 citations

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: Epigenetic modifications, including DNA methylation (DNAm), can change in response to traumatic stress exposure, and may help to distinguish between individuals with and without PTSD. Here, we examine the DNAm patterns specific to immune cell types and inflammation in those with PTSD. METHODS: This study includes 3,277 participants from 11 cohorts participating in the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) PTSD Epigenetics Workgroup. DNAm was assayed from blood with the MethylationEPI…

  PublisherDOI

• Pre-pandemic leukocyte count is associated with severity of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection among older women in the Women's Health Initiative

  Menopause The Journal of The North American Menopause Society · 2025-01-28 · 3 citations

  article

  OBJECTIVE: Although dysregulated inflammation has been postulated as a biological mechanism associated with post-acute sequelae of severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection (PASC) and shown to be a correlate and an outcome of PASC, it is unclear whether inflammatory markers can prospectively predict PASC risk. We examined the association of leukocyte count and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) concentrations, measured ~25 years prior to the coronavirus disease 2019…

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant R01HL090975

  NIH · $2.2M · 2015

• Multisystem risk profile of older adults to predict cognitive function and impairment

  NIH · $472k · 2019–2023

• NIH Grant M01RR000827

  NIH · $28.9M · 2010

Frequent coauthors

• Paul J. Mills

  University of California San Diego Medical Center

  67 shared

• Laura Redwine

  60 shared

• Jordan N. Kohn

  Human Longevity (United States)

  56 shared

• Emily A. Troyer

  38 shared

• Christopher M. Pruitt

  Medical University of South Carolina

  37 shared

• Kathleen Wilson

  Human Longevity (United States)

  34 shared

• Joel E. Dimsdale

  University of California San Diego Medical Center

  30 shared

• Meredith A. Pung

  University of California, San Diego

  27 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Public Health

  University of California, San Diego

  2000

• M.S., Public Health

  University of California, San Diego

  1996

• B.S., Biology

  University of California, San Diego

  1994

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