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  • WHO ARE WE?

    Welcome to the Reproductive Biology & Culture Lab!

     

    We welcome students who are interested both in evolutionary and non-evolutionary (e.g., multicultural) perspectives on issues pertaining to health disparities. We study a broad range of topics such as biological mechanisms of pregnancy, human social behavior, genetics, behavioral neuroendocrinology, and individual differences. We encourage students with wide research interests and needs across diverse theoretical and methodological traditions (e.g., questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, bioassays, and multivariate statistical modeling) to apply to join the lab.

     

    Our lab philosophy is such that we are committed to equipping students from all backgrounds with the skills necessary to be critical consumers of research and active participants in society. We strive to create an inclusive and supportive community that will enrich your scientific development and empower you throughout your academic journey.

     

    I am dedicated to:

    • Creating opportunities for students in the lab to engage with increasing healthcare access and quality among women, minorities, and children
    • Promoting learning opportunities for students to develop methodological skills in questionnaire/ survey design, semi-structured interviews, bioassays, and multivariate statistical modeling
    • Increasing diverse leaders in academia

  • WHAT DO WE DO?

    Our research focuses on understanding human pregnancy and maternal-fetal stress biology in populations experiencing social and health inequalities, specifically among pregnant and non-pregnant women of color. We work from a biocultural anthropology perspective that integrates evolutionary, cultural, and biological theories that offer insights into social and biological factors that create and sustain inequities in pregnancy outcomes as well as the role that cultural practices play in shaping health norms.

     

     

    Current questions include:

     

    1.) How is stress defined cross-culturally? How does maternal health respond to stressors in different cultural contexts?

     

    2.) How does the socio-political environment become biologically embodied among pregnant Filipina women?

     

    3.) How is the bidirectional exchange of maternal and fetal cells (i.e., microchimerism, henceforth, MC) sustained during pregnancy? What is the role that fMC plays in reproductive biology, health, and within the microchiome, or the transgenerational transfer of cells?). How do chronic stress and fetal MC contribute to maternal immune dysregulation leading to preterm birth?

     

    4.) Why does preterm birth exist in humans, given its costly health and fitness consequences?

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