What Accounts for Race/Ethnic and Socioeconomic Differences in Health and Mortality? Race/ethnic and socioeconomic differences in health and mortality are well known, but factors that underlie them are less clearly understood. My research focuses on how societal inequalities affect these health disparities across the life course, including possible effects of early life conditions and neighborhood context. My current research projects include analysis of race/ethnic disparities in maternal and infant and child health in Philadelphia and nationally, early life conditions and adult mortality in Finland, differences in health and mortality among native-born and foreign-born US residents, and black-white differences in avoidable mortality in the United States between 1980 and 2005.