DEHB is currently engaged in a variety of
research projects examining differential developmental
outcomes across the lifespan, with a special focus on how human biology is
shaped by the social and
cultural ecology of everyday life. We are examining:
- How
culture and social ecology shape physical activity patterns and
risk for obesity from adolescence through adulthood.
Current projects include the
intersection of cultural and structural influences
on physical activity among Latino/a young adults in
Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
- How the "architecture of daily
life" (daily routines/arrangement of
everyday experience) contributes toward the socialization of
stress-responsive physiological systems and development of allostatic load
in infants, young children, and adults.
Current projects include an analysis of inflammatory and stress
markers in 5-7 year old children and their parents from
metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia (collaboration with Carol
Worthman, Emory).
- Markers for allostatic load in children living
under adverse conditions, especially as differentiated by gender or
social status. Current projects include:
- Analyses of growth and
immune
status markers relative to child age, gender and time post-contact in
Papua New Guinea (collaboration with Carol
Worthman, Emory).
- Relations
among food insecurity, maternal depression, and child allostatic
load
in Tanzania (collaboration with
Warren Wilson and
Benedikt
Hallgrimsson, University of Calgary [Canada], and Mange Manyama,
Weill Bugando University College of Health Sciences
[Tanzania]).
- Psychobiological moderation of the efficacy of a preventive
intervention for preschool children at risk for the development of youth
behavior
problems (collaboration with Ansley
Gilpin, John Lochman, and Caroline
Boxmeyer, University of Alabama, and Ted
Barker, Birkbeck University of London [UK].)
An additional ongoing
area of research interest is the
development of methods for biocultural anthropology. Recent work includes methodological research regarding the stress marker
salivary alpha-amylase, and development of an updated version of PROUST
software for tracking daily activity patterns.
The lab also supports various projects organized by Dr. Lynn and the
members of
the
Human Behavioral Ecology
Research Group.
As is common in
the
anthropological model of graduate training, advanced
students frequently design their own research projects consistent with
the mission and interests of the lab. The lab supports those projects
and acts as a resource. Follow links under
people to learn about current graduate students and their individual projects being supported by the lab.