Episode
Emiko Kranz, New York University -Discrimination Linked to Diminished Immune System Function
- Podcast
- The Academic Minute
- Published
- Jun 2, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 150
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Summary
On New York University Week: Does discrimination affect our immune system? Emiko Kranz , PhD student in the School of Global Public Health, says yes. Faculty Bio: Emiko Kranz is a mixed Japanese American PhD student whose work draws on her background in cancer immunotherapy, ethnic studies, and community health science. As a PhD student at NYU’s School of Global Public Health, Kranz researches how discriminatory stress may impact immune health. With a particular interest in T cells, she aims to better understand how chronic discrimination can “wear down” our ability to fight off infections. Kranz is also interested in looking at how historical oppression has shaped neighborhoods, influencing the ways communities adapt to care for themselves and others. Transcript: I grew up immersed in my grandparents’ storytelling; most memorably, my Granpa’s stories of what it was like growing up during World War II. He’d often describe life in “Camp”: when he, a 7-year-old U.S.-born citizen, was incarcerated along with over 120 thousand people of Japanese descent, due to what is now recognized as discriminatory wartime hysteria. “It wasn’t bad,” he’d claim, because he held onto the Japanese value of gaman—to endure dire circumstances with dignity—but I always wondered how his body carried this gaman for the rest of his life. Because my Granpa persevered, I get to be here today—talking about my research on how experiencing discrimination impacts health down to the molecular level. Many endure discrimination in subtle, “everyday” forms: maybe due to the color of our skin, who we love, or the faith that we hold. The frequency of this “everyday discrimination” has been linked to a variety of immune health outcomes; as such, our team sought to understand how everyday discrimination may i…