A fascinating free webinar will reveal how microbiomes are not based only on biology - but how we live.
‘Microbiomes, Inequity, and Structural Conditions: Rethinking What Shapes Health’ underlines that microbiomes don’t exist in isolation — they reflect the systems we live in.
The free webinar later this month is delivered by Zinzi Bailey ScD, Associate Professor, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota - a social epidemiologist whose research focuses on structural drivers of health inequities, including structural racism, housing conditions, and the criminal legal system.
It will air on October 28, the latest episode in the fascinating Microbes and Social Equity 2026 Speaker Series.
Dr Bailey will explore how microbiomes are shaped not only by biology, but by the structural conditions in which people live. Drawing on her work in social epidemiology, she will examine how factors such as housing, neighborhood environments, policy, and systemic inequities influence exposure, risk, and health outcomes.
Her talk will challenge assumptions that microbiome variation can be understood without considering the broader social context. By reframing microbiome science through the lens of structural inequity, she highlights the need for approaches that address root causes rather than surface-level differences.
Dr Bailey’s work develops quantitative approaches to measure how social and political systems shape health outcomes, with a particular focus on cancer disparities, infectious disease risk, and access to care. Her research has been widely published in leading journals and has contributed to reframing structural racism as a fundamental cause of health inequities.
Next steps
After the talk, we continue the conversation with an informal social hour. Join us as we chat with the speaker, MSE members, and attendees about research, teaching, our pets, and more!
Programme (Timings are ET)
11:00 Welcome and introduction - Professor Sue Ishaq, Founder and Lead, MSE
11:05 Guest speaker - Zinzi Bailey ScD
11:45 Audience question and answer session
12:00 Informal coffee and chat
13:00 Close
‘Microbiomes, Inequity, and Structural Conditions: Rethinking What Shapes Health’ runs from 11am – 1pm EDT, 28 October 2026. To book for FREE, click HERE.
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