BMS 208 - Human Anatomy
BMS 309 - Laboratory in Human Anatomy

Ph.D., University of South Carolina, Anthropology

M.A., George Mason University, Anthropology

B.A., The College of Wooster, Archaeology

My research focuses on the effects of sex and gender on long-term trends in human health and mortality. Illuminating the biological mechanisms underpinning sex-specific disease patterns across time is vital for interpreting the drivers of past and present sex- and gender-related health disparities. Therefore, my research program includes projects on both historical and contemporary human populations. I have several ongoing projects that are well-suited to provide research experiences to students interested in human microbiomes, sex-specific patterns of oral and systemic disease, and skeletal maturation and growth.

I am currently investigating how hormonal fluctuations in females impact their oral microbiome and downstream health. My aim is to identify how individualized hormonal shifts affect changes in microbial signatures overtime using saliva and urine samples taken over the course of a menstrual cycle. This project will help identify the factors influencing oral microbial dynamics and the mechanisms behind oral disease manifestation.

I am also working to understand how sex-specific patterns of skeletal growth and maturation are affected by environmental and cultural pressures by using computed tomography (CT) scans from a documented postmortem population. This project is working to identify the effects of early life stressors on skeletal maturation and the timing of pubertal events. This project strengthens our knowledge of the interrelationships between skeletal and dental development and soft tissue indicators of human maturation. This is critical to the documentation of variation in patterns of sexual maturation and growth in past human populations.

Lastly, I am identifying long-term drivers of sex-specific trends in health and mortality using the ancient human oral microbiome, skeletal indicators of disease, and demographic analyses. This project uses ancient DNA sequenced dental calculus taken from medieval and post-medieval Londoners. I use hazards-based statistical modeling to understand how variation in oral microbial diversity across demographic groups in London influenced differential mortality and survival in this context. This project advances our understanding how human-microbial interactions influenced health outcomes in the past.