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.

Selected Related Publications

Child foraging, mobility, and health

• 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

Selected Publications

Diet composition and dental anthropology

• Measurement of diet composition data – before and during nutrition transition
  • Measured and weighed food returning to camp
  • Estimated food being consumed in and out of camp
  • 24-hour dietary recalls
• Oral health analysis to determine frequency of periodontal disease, caries, orthodontic disorders, and linear enamel hypoplasias (in collaboration with the Ungar Lab at the University of Arkansas)
• Microwear abrasions to determine seasonal patterns of dental microwear feature turnover rate based on differences in diet composition (in collaboration with the Ungar Lab at the University of Arkansas)

Selected Publications

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.

Selected Related Publications

Maternal and infant health patterns

• Ethnography of labor and delivery
• Postpartum health, including assessments of social network and new challenges facing young mothers as the Hadza transition to more hospital assisted births
• Patterns of co-sleeping - including measurement of sleep quality while breastfeeding (part of a larger project mapping sleep architecture among the Hadza in collaboration with researchers from the University of Toronto and Duke University)

Laboratory Alumni

• 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 Felloship)
• 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