Nutrition and Reproduction Lab
Lab members 2021-2021 (from Left to Right): Jacob White, Kristen Herlosky, Trevor Pollom, Alyssa Crittenden, Daniel Benyshek, Spencer Holmes, Kayleigh Meighan, and Stephanie Schnorr.
Our Lab In The News
UNLV media coverage of our lab
Article Spotlight
Current Lab Members
Daniel C. Benyshek
Co-Director of Lab
Office: WRI-A 120
Phone: 702-895-2070
Fax: 702-895-4823
Email: daniel.benyshek@unlv.edu
Alyssa Crittenden
Co-Director of Lab
Office: WRI-A 106
Phone: 702-895-3709
Fax: 702-895-4823
Email: alyssa.crittenden@unlv.edu
Current Research Projects
Cardiometabolic Health
- The role maternal prenatal and early postnatal nutrition plays in susceptibility to – and protection from – obesity-related diseases.
- Animal models of the intergenerational transmission of obesity-related disorders such as type 2 diabetes via developmental plasticity (e.g., epigenetics).
- Type 2 diabetes community based, prevention programs in the highest risk communities.
Child foraging, mobility, and health
Graduate student, Trevor Pollom, using a mounted compass to measure wayfinding ability among child foragers during the summer field season, 2017
- Spatial Cognition and Navigation (SCAN) among children and juveniles. In collaboration with the SCAN project at the University of Utah
- Anthropometric measurements of physical growth and macro-level indicators of health and nutrition status
- Foraging distance and estimates of energy expended – before and during nutrition transition
Diet Composition and Food & Water Insecurity
- Measurement of diet composition data – before and during nutrition transition
- 24-hour dietary recalls
- Estimation of food and water insecurity
- Hydration strategies and water quality analysis
Alyssa Crittenden conducting 24 hour dietary recall interviews for a study on oral health and nutrition.
Human Maternal Placentophagy
- Human maternal placentophagy (eating the placenta or ‘afterbirth’ following parturition) in evolutionary and cross cultural context.
- Human maternal placentophagy as alternative health practice
- The potential health risks of human maternal placentophagy
- Human placentophagy and purported maternal benefits, including improved energy, lactation, and mood.
Daniel Benyshek and Sharon Young readying to prepare a human placenta for laboratory analysis.
Maternal and infant health patterns
Graduate student, Kristen Herlosky, collecting child interviews for SCAN, August 2017
- Ethnography of labor and delivery among Hadza foragers in Tanzania (Kristen Herlosky)
- Post-partum health and pain management among the Hadza (Kristen Herlosky)
- Cross-cultural patterns of co-sleeping among small-scale societies (Kayleigh Meighan; Kristen Herlosky)
- Co-sleeping in the US among women who opted for community assisted (i.e. midwife led) births (Kayleigh Meighan)
Laboratory Alumni
- Marlena Gatlin, BA (In Progress)
Maternal Happiness and Unhappiness in Hadza Foragers of Northern Tanzania (Graduate College Research and Mentorship Program - RAMP) - Stephanie Schnorr, Postdoctoral Fellow (2021)
Project: Relevance of Positive Selection on Human Salivary Amylase Gene - Spencer Holmes, BA (2020)
Project: Documenting the Diversity and Functions of Music in Hadza Life - Mayisha Smalls, BA (2020)
Project: Documenting the Diversity and Functions of Music in Hadza Life - Roger Arenas, PhD (2019)
Virtually healthy: Using Virtual Ethnography to Survey Healthcare Seeking Practices of Online Transgender Individuals - Elle Ford, BA (2018)
Anthopometric Measurements of Physical Growth among Hadza Hunter-Gatherer Children (McNair Fellowship) - Mariah Clanton, BA (2018)
Keep Calm and Carry On: Infant Carrying Practices and Motor Development (AANAPISI Fellowship) - Celeste Giordano, PhD (2017)
Aging and Fermentation as Adaptive Food Management Strategies in the Arctic - Sharon Young, PhD (2016)
Effects of Human Maternal Placentophagy on Postpartum Maternal Affect, Health, and Recovery - Laura Gryder, MA (2015)
Effects of Human Maternal Placentophagy on Maternal Postpartum Iron Status - Kilian Wells, BA (2013)
Activity Budgets and Energy Expenditure among Hunter-Gatherer Children: Results from the Hadza of Tanzania (NIH IDeA Fellowship) - Kara Osborne, BA (2013)
Evolution of the Human Diet: What We Can Learn from Hadza Hunter-Gatherers (McNair Fellowship) - Diane Hardgrave, PhD (2010)
The effects of Cellular Theta Breathing Meditation on Cell Mediated Immune Response: A Controlled, Randomized Investigation of Altered Consciousness and Health - Allison Cantor, MA (2010)
Impacts on Maternal Diet in a Transitional Community in Rural Costa Rica: Potential Implications for the Developmental Origins of Obesity-related Disorders - Julie Kachinski , MA (2010)
Use of an Animal Model to Explore Prenatal Predictors of Insulin and Glucose Metabolism in Southwestern Alaskan Yupiit - Luz Andrea Pfister, MA (2006)
Paleoepidemiology of Bacterial Infections among Prehistoric Human Populations in Northern Chile: an Ancient DNA Approach