Charles Nunn, Gosnell Family Professor in Global Health & Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, presents, "Shining Evolutionary Light on Human Health in Madagascar"

Charles Nunn, Gosnell Family Professor in Global Health & Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, presents, "Shining Evolutionary Light on Human Health in Madagascar"

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, evolutionary 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 draw attention to opportunities through the Triangle Center for Evolutionary Medicine (TriCEM), which runs at Duke and connects faculty across our nearby universities in evolutionary medicine research.

Event Date
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Venue
Gross Hall, Room 270
Event Type