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. Not pictured: Julianne Paige, Mayisha Smalls, and Sharon Young.
Our Lab In The News
UNLV media coverage of our lab
Article Spotlight
Current Lab Members
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) - 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 - 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