UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Early life experiences involving feelings of love, safety and fear may influence whether someone remains healthy as they age.

“In many ways, aging, and resilience to premature aging, begins in the womb, and is especially influenced early in life,” said Elissa Epel, professor of psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco.

Epel will deliver a lecture, “Self to Cell: A Biological View of Flourishing,” at 4 p.m. on April 14 to discuss new research that suggests that certain types of meditation and family-based programs may help prevent premature aging.

The lecture, to be held via Zoom webinar, is open to the public, with pre-registration required.

Supplemental reading

• Can childhood adversity affect telomeres of the next generation? Possible mechanisms, implications, and next-generation research (PDF)
• Meditation, stress processes, and telomere biology (PDF)
• The geroscience agenda: Toxic stress, hermetic stress, and the rate of aging (PDF)

Epel’s research has been featured in outlets such as TEDMED, NBC’s “Today Show,” “CBS This Morning,” “60 Minutes,” National Public Radio, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Wisdom 2.0, Health 2.0 and many science documentaries. She co-authored “The Telomere Effect” (2017) with Elizabeth Blackburn, a New York Times bestseller in the category of Science.

This lecture is the fifth annual Lecture on Compassion, an initiative developed and funded by Mark Greenberg, Edna Peterson Bennett Endowed Chair in Prevention Research, and his wife, Christa Turksma, a curriculum developer and teacher of mindfulness skills. The forum is intended to showcase the findings and perspectives of outstanding researchers and practitioners in the areas of awareness, compassion and empathy.

The College of Health and Human Development and the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center host the annual event. For more information on the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center, visit prevention.psu.edu.