Rural Embodiment And Child Health (REACH) Study

Role: Principal Investigator

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This project documents how rural environments, especially when combined with inequality and marginalization, are internalized and affect child health and development. Stage One of this project explores the prevalence of soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infection and associated health outcomes in low-resource communities in the U.S. Almost no attention has been devoted to STH infection in the U.S., with the last large-scale studies occurring in the 1970s/1980s. These studies documented high STH prevalence in numerous regions in the U.S. (e.g., upwards of 70% in some areas). There have been no follow up studies to suggest that these infections have been reduced or eradicated. This is one of the first studies to reexamine STH infections in these regions, documenting both positive and negative health outcomes, and determining specific lifestyle factors that increase likelihood of infection. This has potential for tremendous impact on public health. In the U.S., these infections are likely to have the greatest health impact among the most vulnerable members of society, particularly those in low-resource communities in rural areas with limited access to medical care. Longitudinal research will also document the effects of climate change on STH exposure in the U.S. Future data collection is also aimed at understanding environmental exposure to microbes and intestinal microbial diversity associated with rural lifestyles in the U.S., with special focus on Helicobacteri pylori infection and intestinal inflammation.

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Website

https://tjceponrobins.wixsite.com/reachstudy

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Funding

This project is funded by the Boettcher Foundation Webb-Waring Biomedical Research Grant.

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Key Collaborators

• Theresa Gildner, Dartmouth College, Washington University in St. Louis

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​Shuar Health and Life History Project

Role: Senior Investigator

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Research in collaboration with multiple researchers and universities. My research with SHLHP focuses on understanding how parasite load and bacterial diversity is altered by social and economic change associated with rapid integration into market economies. I explore how this change in infectious disease burden alters immune function and may result in the development of allergy and autoimmunity.

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Key Collaborators

• Melissa Liebert, Northern Arizona University

• Felicia Madimenos, CUNY Queens

• Samuel Urlacher, Baylor University

• Josh Snodgrass, University of Oregon

• Larry Sugiyama, University of Oregon

• Aaron Blackwell, Washington State University - Pullman

• Theresa Gildner, Dartmouth College

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Website

https://www.shuarproject.org/

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Building the Methodological Toolkit in Biological Anthropology: Dried Blood Spot Methods Development for Addressing Key Evolutionary and Biocultural Questions

Role: Faculty Associate

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An NSF-funded study aimed at developing and validated five in-house immunoassays and one commerically available kit for use with Dried Blood Spots (DBS) to expand the methodological toolkit in for use in field studies in human biology and biological anthropology. Biomarkers focus on four main topics: autoimmune disease (myeloperoxidase [pANCA], an indicator of inflammatory bowel disease, and anti-thyroid peroxidase antibody [TPOAb], a marker of autoimmune thyroid disorders), inflammatory regulation (the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10 [IL-10]), bone turnover (carboxylated osteocalcin [cOC], a marker of bone formation, and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase 5b [TRACP5b], a marker of bone resorption), and stress-related aging (the protein marker Klotho).

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Collaborators

• Josh Snodgrass, University of Oregon

• Geeta Eick, University of Oregon

• Larry Sugiyama, University of Oregon

• Paul Kowal, World Health Organization

• Maureen Devlin, University of Michigan

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Lifestyle and Intestinal Inflammation among Older Adults from Colorado Springs

Role: Principal Investigator

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This project examines relationships between intestinal inflammation, lifetime

socioeconomic status, lifestyle, and disease exposure. It is conducted in collaboration

with the Gerontology Research Affiliates at UCCS. Data being collected includes fecal

calprotectin (an indicator of intestinal inflammation), white blood cell count, H. pylori

infection, cholesterol levels, and anthropometric measurements. This is a preliminary

study to test how lived experience in the aging U.S. population has affected intestinal

health and has the potential to tell us important information regarding immune system

development and regulation throughout the life course.

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Key Collaborators,

• Courtney Manthey-Pierce, University of Colorado Denver

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Presentations

• Student poster presentation at CSURF

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