NCF Anthropology Speaker Series: Shining Evolutionary Light on Human Health in Madagascar
The anthropology program of New College of Florida invites you to attend a talk given by Professor Charles Nunn (Duke University) on evolutionary medicine in Madagascar.
Click here for the poster Anthropology Speaker Series
Title
Shining Evolutionary Light on Human Health in Madagascar
Date and Time
April 7th, 3: 30 PM
Location
Zoom Registration Link: https://ncf.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAtd--grjIpGNTTkKQnrZFqqWwgJlGE7sSs
For questions, please contact Professor Yidong Gong ygong@ncf.edu
Speaker
Charles L. Nunn, Duke University
Blurb
Evolutionary medicine uses principles and perspectives of evolutionary biology to improve understanding, prevention, and treatment of disease. Evolutionary medicine is highly interdisciplinary, drawing on research from ecology and evolution, biological anthropology, public health, medicine and more, yet it largely focuses on research in high-income countries. In this presentation, I will discuss my efforts to connect evolutionary medicine and global health through research in Madagascar. Working with Malagasy partners, we are investigating human and animal health in a rural village in northeastern Madagascar. I will discuss two major groups of projects. One set of projects considers how Malagasy lifestyles – and the ways these lifestyles are changing – influences health and disease. The other projects consider how human land use influences human-animal interactions and zoonotic disease risk. Throughout, I will connect the research to evolutionary medicine, biological anthropology, and global health.
Bio
Charles Nunn is the Gosnell Family Professor of Global Health and Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke University. He is also the Director of the Triangle Center for Evolutionary Medicine (TriCEM). Professor Nunn uses evolutionary approaches to understand and improve human and animal health. He and his research group investigate the ecology and evolution of infectious disease, drivers of variation in sleep, and the links between ecology, evolution and global health. Professor Nunn addresses these questions using phylogenetic methods, mathematical modeling, and through fieldwork in Madagascar, Kenya and other locations. He is the author of Infectious Diseases of Primates: Behavior, Ecology and Evolution and The Comparative Approach in Evolutionary Anthropology and Biology.