Associate Professor Lauren Schmitz of the La Follette School was one of just 18 UW-Madison faculty members to receive a coveted 2026-2027 H.I. Romnes Faculty Fellowship this summer.

Named after the late Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation Trustee President, the H.I. Romnes Faculty Fellowship is awarded annually by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research to recognize and support faculty members who have made exceptional research contributions early in their tenure. The fellowship includes a $60,000 award to support recipients’ research for up to five years.

Schmitz was awarded the H.I. Romnes Faculty Fellowship for her research using genomic and epigenetic data to investigate the roles that biological and social factors can play in influencing aging and health throughout the lifespan. Her research also focuses on policy solutions to target social determinants of health and improve health disparities and inequalities that can have impacts on life expectancy and health outcomes.

Schmitz is the founder and principal investigator of the Biosocial Equity Lab, which examines the interplay between genetic and socioeconomic factors in impacting lifespan and quality of life. She is also the associate director of the Center for Demography of Health and Aging, an NIH-funded campus research center focused on the biomedical and social components of aging and related health disparities.

Schmitz plans to use the award to continue her ongoing research projects, such as evaluating workplace determinants of racial health disparities in birth outcomes and determining the long-term effects of exposure to adverse conditions in early childhood on accelerated biological aging and cognitive wellbeing at older ages.

In April, Schmitz also received funding from the 2026 Kohl Competition for her project which plans to profile epigenetic data from newborn heel pricks to better predict accelerated biological aging in children with the aim of earlier intervention to prevent disease later in life. The results of this study could be used to influence policy decisions regarding maternal and infant health.

“I’m honored to be recognized with this fellowship and excited to invest the award into my research,” Schmitz said. “The impacts of social policy on health outcomes cannot be overstated, and I hope that my work can motivate future policy to support healthy aging.”