Michael H. Esposito

mesposit@umn.edu • mhesposito.io

Updated September 28, 2026

Research Interests

population health; race; statistical methodology; social/spatial context

Appointments

Education

Journal Articles

  1. Measuring “third places”: Comparing neighborhood data for cognitive health research
    Jessica M. Finlay, David Rigby, Amber DeJohn, Yue Sun, Brigette A. Davis, Arwa Aldulaimy, Desiree Alvarez-McNelis, Ainsley Bowie, Karis Hawkins, Zhe Lin, Weining Kan, Taylor S. Ketterhagen, Xinyu Lin, Stephen B. Liwur, Mallory Sagehorn, Laine Sullivan, Lucy Vaughan, Shangrui Zhu, Ania Berry, Margaret T. Hicken, Michael H. Esposito
    Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 2026.
  2. Drive with me: Utilizing car-based mobile interviews to investigate place and health
    Grace M. Savard, Mallory A. P. Sagehorn, Desiree L. Alvarez-McNelis, Michael H. Esposito, Jessica M. Finlay
    SSM - Qualitative Research in Health, 2026.
  3. Sociohistorical contexts of racial violence: sundown towns and the durability of racialized public space
    David Rigby, Michael H. Esposito, Tyson H. Brown, Hedwig Lee, Sierra Clark
    Ethnic and Racial Studies, 2026.
  4. Cognability across adulthood: A qualitative investigation of neighborhoods and cognitive health behaviors
    Jessica Finlay, Grace Savard, Desiree Alvarez-McNelis, Mallory Sagehorn, Grace Bowman, Yue Sun, Michael Esposito
    Social Science and Medicine, 2026.
  5. How do counties’ industrial structures shape geographic disparities in cardiovascular disease mortality?
    Yue Sun, Michael H. Esposito
    Social Science and Medicine, 2026.
  6. Uneven access to essential services and amenities: geographic disparities in ‘third place’ availability across the United States from 2010 to 2021
    Yue Sun, Michael H. Esposito, Mallory Sagehorn, Robert A. Melendez, Jessica M. Finlay
    Health & Place, 2025.
  7. Incarceration and psychiatric emergency department visits among Black Americans
    Abhery Das, Michael Esposito, Tim A. Bruckner, Hedwig Lee
    Milbank Quarterly, 2025.
  8. Trust, trust repair, and public health: a scoping review
    Peter Kalulu, Aubrey Fisher, G. Whitter, I. Sener, M. Doering, David B. Carter, Matthew Gabel, Jimin Ding, Michael Esposito, Caitlin L. McMurtry, P. Sopory, Mark D. Huffman
    Frontiers in Public Health, 2025.
  9. A National Data Set of Historical US Sundown Towns for Quantitative Analysis
    David Rigby, Michael H. Esposito, Hedwig Lee, David Van Riper, Margaret Hicken, Stephen Berrey
    Scientific Data, 2025.
  10. The U.S. Criminal Legal System and Population Health
    Michael Cao, Michael H. Esposito, Hedwig Lee
    Current Epidemiology Reports, 2025.
  11. Racial Capitalism and Firearm Violence: Developing a theoretical model for firearm violence research examining structural racism
    Mudia Uzzi, Shannon Whittaker, Michael Esposito, Lorraine Dean, Shani Buggs, Keshia Pollack-Porter
    Social Science and Medicine, 2024.
  12. Influence of Structural Racism on Cancer Health Disparities: Tailoring Measures Relevant to Multiple Myeloma
    Hugh Roland, Cydney McGuire, Monica Baskin, Michael Esposito, Elizabeth Baker, Elizabeth Brown
    Cancer, 2024.
  13. Bodily Harm: The Health Consequences of Policing in the United States
    Abhery Das, Michael Esposito, Hedwig Lee
    California Law Review, 2024.
  14. Segregated Patterns of Hospital Care Delivery and Health Outcomes
    Sunny Lin, Gmerice Hammond, Michael Esposito, Cassandra Majewski, Randi Foraker, Karen Joynt Maddox
    JAMA Health Forum, 2024.
  15. Historical redlining and contemporary racial disparities in neighborhood life expectancy
    Nick Graetz, Michael H. Esposito
    Social Forces, 2023.
  16. Policing and Population Health: Past, Present, and Future
    Hedwig Lee, Savannah Larimore, Michael Esposito
    Milbank Quarterly, 2023.
  17. Neighborhood “Disamenities:” local barriers and cognitive function among Black and white aging adults
    Wenshan Yu, Michael Esposito, Mao Li, Philippa Clarke, Suzanne Judd, Jessica Finlay
    BMC Public Health, 2023.
  18. Cognability: An Ecological Theory of Neighborhoods and Cognitive Aging
    Jessica Finlay, Michael Esposito, Ken Langa, Suzanne Judd, Philippa Clarke
    Social Science and Medicine, 2022.
    NIH Matilda White Riley Early Stage Investigator Paper Award
  19. Structural Racism and Quantitative Causal Inference: A Life-Course Mediation Framework for Decomposing Racial Health Disparities
    Nick Graetz, Courtney Boen, Michael H. Esposito
    Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 2022.
  20. Walkable neighborhoods and cognition: implications for the design of health promoting communities
    Dominique L. Sylvers, Margaret Hicken, Michael Esposito, Jennifer Manly, Suzanne Judd, Philippa Clarke
    Journal of Aging and Health, 2022.
  21. “My neighbourhood is fuzzy, not hard and fast:” Individual and contextual associations with perceived residential neighbourhood boundaries among ageing Americans
    Jessica Finlay, Joy Jang, Michael Esposito, Leslie McClure, Suzanne Judd, Philippa Clarke
    Urban Studies, 2022.
  22. Beholding Inequality: Race, Gender, Physical Attractiveness, and SES in the United States
    Ellis Monk, Michael H. Esposito, Hedwig Lee
    American Journal of Sociology, 2021.
    ASA Race, Gender, Class Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Article Award
    ASA Section on the Sociology of Body and Embodiment: Best Article Award
    ASA Inequality, Poverty and Mobility Devah Pager Award: Honorable Mention
  23. Aggressive Policing, Population Health, and Health Equity
    Michael H. Esposito, Savannah Larimore, Hedwig Lee
    Health Affairs, 2021.
  24. White Health Benefits of Histories of Enslavement: The Case of Opioid Deaths
    Ryan Gabriel, Michael H. Esposito, Geoff Ward, Hedwig Lee, Margaret Hicken, David Cunningham
    The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2021.
  25. Neighborhood Active Aging Infrastructure and Cognitive Function: A Mixed-Methods Study of Older Americans
    Jessica Finlay, Michael H. Esposito, Mao Li, Natalie Colabianchi, Huajun Zhou, Suzanne Judd, Philippa Clarke
    Preventive Medicine, 2021.
  26. Linking History to Contemporary State-Sanctioned Slow Violence through Cultural and Structural Racism
    Margaret T. Hicken, Regan Patterson, Lewis Miles, Solome Haile, Michael Esposito
    The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2021.
  27. Can Neighborhood Social Infrastructure Modify Cognitive Function? A Mixed-Methods Study of Urban-Dwelling Aging Americans
    Jessica Finlay, Michael H. Esposito, Mao Li, Lindsay Kobayashi, Anam Khan, Iris Gomez-Lopez, Robert Melendez, Natalie Colabianchi, Suzanne Judd, Philippa Clarke
    Journal of Aging and Health, 2021.
  28. Racial segregation and cognitive function among older adults in the United States: Findings from the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study
    Joy Jang, Margaret T. Hicken, Megan Mullins, Michael H. Esposito, Ketlyne Sol, Jennifer Manly, Suzanne Judd, Philippa Clarke
    The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 2021.
  29. Retail Food Environments as Resources for Cognitive Health and Wellbeing Among Aging Americans
    Jessica Finlay, Michael H. Esposito, Sandra Tang, Iris Gomez-Lopez, Dominique Sylvers, Suzanne Judd, Philippa Clarke
    Health & Place, 2020.
  30. Inequality in Process: Income and Heterogeneous Educational Health Gradients among Blacks and Whites in the U.S.
    Michael H. Esposito
    Race and Social Problems, 2019.
  31. Risk of Being Killed by Police Use-of-Force in the U.S. by Age, Race and Sex
    Frank Edwards, Hedwig Lee, Michael H. Esposito
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2019.
  32. Closure of Third-Places? Exploring Potential Consequences for Collective Health and Wellbeing
    Jessica Finlay, Michael H. Esposito, Min Hee Kim, Iris Gomez-Lopez, Philippa Clarke
    Health & Place, 2019.
  33. Risk of Police-Involved Death by Race/Ethnicity and Place, United States, 2012–2018
    Frank Edwards, Michael H. Esposito, Hedwig Lee
    American Journal of Public Health, 2018.
  34. The Consequences of Contact with the Criminal Justice System for Health in the Transition to Adulthood
    Michael H. Esposito, Hedwig E. Lee, Margaret Hicken, Lauren Porter, Jerald Herting
    Longitudinal and Life Course Studies, 2017.

Peer-Reviewed Reports & Other Publications

  1. Identifying Midlife Social Exposures That Might Modify Risks of Cognitive Impairment Associated with Early Life Disadvantage: Proceedings of a Workshop
    (Contributing presenter.) Rapporteur: Bradford Chaney
    National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2025.
  2. Shared Fates: A Housing Resilience Policy Vision for the Home Insurance Crisis
    Moira Briss, Alex Casey, Michael Esposito, Nick Graetz, Sarah Knuth, C.S. Ponder, Zac J. Taylor
    Climate and Community Institute Research Series, 2024.
  3. The Past, Present, and Future of Racial Health Disparities in the US
    Michael Esposito, Nick Graetz, Margaret Hicken, Hedwig Lee
    Uncovering Inequality, edited by Jelani Cobb, 2023.
  4. The demographics of racial inequality in the United States
    Hedwig Lee, Michael Esposito, Frank Edwards, Yung Chun, Michal Grinstein-Weiss
    Brookings Institution, 2020.
  5. Police kill about 3 men per day in the US, according to new study
    Frank Edwards, Michael Esposito
    The Conversation, 2018.

Manuscripts in Progress

Includes the projects closest to publication.

  1. Skin Tone Measurement via Agentic AI
    Jack Hasche, John Robert Warren, Michael H. Esposito
  2. Effects of city historical redlining on neighborhood inequality and population health: a population discontinuity design approach
    Theresa Osypuk, Samantha Gailey, Naomi Thyden, Michael Esposito
  3. Aging Through Time and Place: Conceptual and Methodological Tensions in Studying the Association between Place and Health Across the Life Course
    Yue Sun, Michael Esposito, Jessica Finlay
  4. Divergent Trajectories of AI Divides: Inequality in Usage and Adoption Across Sociodemographic Groups and Technology Types 2023–2024
    Eunhye Ahn, Michael Esposito, Nari Yoo
  5. Invisible Labor, Visible Impact: Health Disparities Among Asian American Caregivers
    Shania Kuo, Michael Esposito
  6. ‘Distrust Just Trickles All the Way Down’: Narratives of Police Contact and Trust in Government among Black and White Adults
    Caitlin McMurtry, Michael Esposito, Han Koehle, Sierra Clark, Cinthia Romo Alba, Jé Judson
  7. Neighborhood Exposure to Police Violence: A Racialized Geography of Fatal Encounters
    Carmen Gutierrez, Robert Melendez, Michael Esposito, Lindsay Gypin, Grace Noppert
  8. From Amenity to Disamenity: Rethinking Neighborhood Resources and Health
    Jessica Finlay, Hayes Hart-Thompson, Zhe Lin, Mallory Sagehorn, Grace Savard, Michael Esposito
  9. The Scarcity of Guidance for Communicating Race, Ethnicity, Sex, and Gender in Journals
    Rae Anne Martinez, Michael Esposito, Nafeesa Andrabi, Noah Haber, Natalie Riva Smith, Kene Orakwue, Lilian Norman
  10. Covenanted-Policing: How does historical spatial racism shape contemporary policing practices?
    Christopher Robertson, Michael Esposito
  11. Sixty Years of Testimony: Tracing the U.S. State’s Changing Role in Children’s and Families’ Lives with Large Language Models
    Eunhye Ahn, Sarah Font, Michael Esposito

Grants & Fellowships

Grants

Fellowships & Awards

Recent Presentations

Since 2023

  1. Sociohistorical Contexts of Racial Violence: Sundown Towns and the Durability of Racialized Public Space
    Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin–Madison
    (October 2026; invited)
  2. Skin Tone Measurement via Agentic AI
    Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science Annual Meeting, Portland, OR
    (September 2026)
  3. Plenary Panel: Challenges and Opportunities in Research, Data, and Publishing in the Social Sciences
    American Society of Health Economists (ASHEcon) Annual Conference, Minneapolis, MN
    (June 2026; invited)
  4. Sociohistorical Contexts of Racial Violence: Sundown Towns and the Durability of Racialized Public Space
    Health Policy and Management Seminar, University of Minnesota School of Public Health
    (March 2026; invited)
  5. Enhancing Models of Health Inequities through Diverse Historical Information
    Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science Annual Meeting
    (2025)
  6. Neighborhoods and Cognitive Function among Older Adults
    National Academies of Sciences: Identifying Midlife Social Exposures that might Modify Risk for Cognitive Impairment Associated with Early Life Disadvantage
    (August 2024; invited)
  7. Differences in Police Contact, Trust, and Accountability by Race and Ethnicity: Findings from Focus Groups in St. Louis and Milwaukee
    Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science Annual Meeting
    (September 2024)
  8. Fatal Police Violence and the Maintenance of Racialized Space
    American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Montreal, Quebec
    (August 2024)
  9. The durable consequences of policy: lessons from redlining in designing for an equitable future
    School of Science and Technology Policy Seminar, Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology
    (July 2024; invited)
  10. Fatal Police Violence and the Maintenance of Racialized Space
    Population Association of America Annual Meeting, Columbus, OH
    (April 2024)
  11. Restrictive Covenants and Police Territoriality
    Population Association of America Annual Meeting, Columbus, OH
    (April 2024)
  12. Historical redlining and contemporary racial disparities in neighborhood life expectancy
    Institute for Population Research, The Ohio State University
    (February 2024; invited)
  13. Historical redlining and contemporary racial disparities in neighborhood life expectancy
    Donald J. Bogue Demography Workshop, University of Chicago
    (October 2023; invited)
  14. Challenges of Measuring Structural Racism: A Case Study of Redlining
    Methods Matter Conference: Understanding and Measuring Race and Racism in Health Research, University of Pennsylvania
    (September 2023; invited)
  15. Legacies of Historical Racism
    American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA
    (August 2023)
  16. Political Determinants of Health: The Case of Policing
    American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA
    (August 2023)
  17. Sundown Towns and the Contemporary, Racialized Organization of Space
    Population Association of America Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA
    (April 2023)
  18. Historical redlining and contemporary racial disparities in neighborhood life expectancy
    CDHA Demography Seminar, University of Wisconsin
    (April 2023; invited)
  19. The Past, Present, and Future of Racial Health Disparities in the United States
    Uncovering Inequality Symposium, Columbia University
    (March 2023; invited)
  20. Historical redlining and contemporary racial disparities in neighborhood life expectancy
    Duke Population Research Seminar, Duke University
    (February 2023; invited)

Teaching

Classes

Workshops

Editorial Service

Professional Affiliations

Population Association of America; American Sociological Association; Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science; Association of Black Sociologists; The Institute in Critical Quantitative, Computational, and Mixed Methodologies.

Skills

R; Git; LaTeX; RMarkdown; AI-assisted coding (e.g., Claude Code)

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