Links to Information on Publications, Research Interests, and Teaching
Research Interests
Publications
Human Biology Research Laboratory
Undergraduate Teaching and Mentoring
Shuar Health and Life History Project
Indigenous Siberian Health and Adaptation Project
Bones and Behavior Project
Evolutionary Medicine Group

Primary Academic Appointment
Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon

Other Positions
Chair, Undergraduate Council, University of Oregon (2012-2013)
Williams Fellow, University of Oregon (2012-2013)
Director, Human Biology Research Laboratory, University of Oregon (since 2007)
Advisor, Multi-Country Studies Unit, World Health Organization (since 2005)
Affiliated Scientist, Oregon Social Learning Center (since 2010)

Areas of Specialization
Human Biology; Human Nutrition & Energetics; Evolutionary Medicine; Global Health; Growth & Development; Aging;
Human Skeletal Biology

Education

NIA Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute for Mind and Biology, The University of Chicago (2004-2005)

Ph.D., Anthropology, Northwestern University (2004)
M.A., Anthropology, University of Florida (1998)
B.A., Anthropology, UC Santa Cruz (1995)

Teaching
Anth 175: Evolutionary Medicine (Syllabus)
Anth 199: Paging Dr. Darwin (Freshman Interest Group College Connections Course) (Syllabus)
Anth 270: Introduction to Biological Anthropology (Syllabus)
Anth 362: Human Biological Variation (Syllabus)
Anth 369: Human Growth & Development (Syllabus)
Anth 468/568: Evolutionary Theory (Syllabus)
Anth 487/587: Bioanthropology Methods (Syllabus)
Anth 610: Current Topics in Biological Anthropology (Syllabus)
(Read more about my courses and teaching philosophy)

Research Interests
My research focuses on human health and adaptation and sits at the intersection of human physiology, evolutionary biology, nutritional sciences, epidemiology, and the behavioral sciences.

My research focuses on four main topics:
1) Human adaptation to environmental stressors such as extreme cold
2) The influence of economic and cultural change on health, especially cardiovascular disease and diabetes
3) Human/primate energetics and the evolution of the human diet
4) The role of chronic psychosocial stress in shaping health and disease
(Read more about my research interests)

Collaborative Field Research
I am part of several large collaborative research teams and am involved in field research projects in northeastern Siberia (Indigenous Siberian Health and Adaptation Project), the Amazon region of Ecuador (The Shuar Health and Life History Project), and several locations within Oregon.



Since 2005, I've also been involved with the World Health Organization's multi-country Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE), a longitudinal study of health and well-being in older adults that focuses on nationally representative samples in six countries (China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa).


Human Biology Research Laboratory
I also direct a human biology research laboratory that focuses on the development and application of minimally invasive techniques (e.g., dried blood spots and saliva) for assessing health and physiology in population-based research.


AAPA Portland 2012
On April 11-14, UO's Department of Anthropology hosted the 81st annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists at the Hilton Portland and Executive Tower in Portland, OR. I served as co-chair of the AAPA local arrangements committee (with John Lukacs) and chair of the Human Biology Association local arrangements committee.


The conference, which was attended by over 1700 people, was held jointly with several sister organizations, including the Human Biology Association and the Paleopathology Assocation. For more information, check out the AAPA 2012 Meeting Website.

In addition to organizing and running the conference, UO faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates also presented or contributed to a total of 19 papers at AAPA and 10 at HBA. Five of those papers had undergraduates as the lead author. Check out the UO website for a story about UO Anthropology's role in organizing the meetings.

Recent Awards & Press
In 2013, I received the Michael A. Little Early Career Award from the Human Biology Association in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of human biology.

In 2012, I was named as a Williams Fellow in recognition of distinguished undergraduate teaching at the University of Oregon.

I also recently received a Faculty Excellence Award in recognition of outstanding research and leadership at the University of Oregon.

Click here for a recent news piece in Science about ecological immunology research by the Shuar Health and Life History Project and collaborators Thom McDade and Paula Tallman.

In 2011, I received a Clinical Research Recognition Award from the PeaceHealth/Sacred Heart Medical Foundation for my research on stress and health.

Click here for a recent article from Science on the evolution of the human diet, which discusses some of my research.

Click here for a recent Room for Debate opinion piece from The New York Times that discusses the effects of recent secular trends in height and longevity, and responds to the question "Do we want to be supersize humans?"

Current Research Projects

• Indigenous Siberian Health and Adaptation Project
  

• Shuar Health and Life History Project
  

• Stress, discrimination, and health among Latin American immigrants in Oregon
  

• Biomarker development for assessing health and physiology in population-based research
  

• Human/primate energetics and the evolution of the human diet

• Romantic relationship influences on health in adulthood
  

• WHO Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE)
  

Bones and Behavior
I'm also a co-organizer (with Susan Antón of NYU) of the Bones and Behavior Working Group, and I manage the website bonesandbehavior.org. Our group is dedicated to fostering a greater synthesis across biological anthropology with the specific aim of developing integrative approaches to research questions concerning human and primate adaptation.


Evolutionary Medicine Group
The Evolutionary Medicine Group is a discussion group that I started in 2008 and is run through UO's Institute of Cognitive and Decision Sciences. Kirstin Sterner has taken over as organizer of the group for 2012-2013. The group meets every other Thursday during the academic year to discuss recent research in evolutionary medicine and to develop and pursue collaborative research projects.

Papers Under Review

• McClure HH, Snodgrass JJ, Martinez CR, Squires EC, Jimenez RA, Isiordia LE, Eddy JM, and McDade TW. Stress, place, and allostatic load among Mexican immigrant farmworkers in Oregon. J Immigr Minor Health.

• Wilson HJ, Leonard WR, Snodgrass JJ, Tarskaia LA, Klimova TM, and Krivoshapkin. Objectively measured physical activity and sedentary behavior of Yakut (Sakha) adults. Ann Hum Biol.

• Levy SB, Leonard WR, Tarskaia LA, Klimova TM, Fedorova VI, Baltakhinova ME, Krivoshapkin VG, and Snodgrass JJ. Seasonal changes in thyroid function among the Yakut (Sakha) of Eastern Siberia. Am J Hum Biol.

• Cepon TJ, Liebert MA, Gildner TE, Urlacher SS, Colehour AM, Snodgrass JJ, Madimenos FC, Sugiyama LS. Soil-transmitted helminth prevalence and infection intensity among geographically and economically distinct Shuar communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon. PLOS ONE.

Forthcoming Publications

• McClure HH, Snodgrass JJ, Martinez CR, Eddy JM, McDade TW, Hyers MJ, and Johnstone-Diaz A. Integrating biomarkers into research with Latino immigrants in the United States. Adv Anthropol.

• Snodgrass JJ. Health of indigenous circumpolar populations. Annu Rev Anthropol.

Recent Publications (Publication Archive)

• Liebert MA, Snodgrass JJ, Blackwell AD, Madimenos FC, Cepon TJ, and Sugiyama LS. 2013. Implications of market integration for cardiovascular and metabolic health among an indigenous Amazonian Ecuadorian population. Ann Hum Biol 40: 228-242. (link to article)
  

• Antón SC and Snodgrass JJ. 2012. Origin and evolution of genus Homo: A new perspective. Curr Anthropol 53 (Supplement 6): S479-S496.
  

• Madimenos FC, Snodgrass JJ, Liebert MA, Cepon TJ, and Sugiyama LS. 2012. Reproductive effects on skeletal health in Shuar women of Amazonian Ecuador: A life history perspective. Am J Hum Biol 24: 841-852.

• Squires EC, McClure HH, Martinez CR, Eddy JM, Jimenez RA, Isiordia LE, and Snodgrass JJ. 2012. Diurnal cortisol rhythms among Latino immigrants in Oregon, USA. J Physiol Anthropol 31: 19.

• McDade TW, Tallman PS, Madimenos FC, Liebert MA, Cepon TJ, Sugiyama L, and Snodgrass JJ. 2012. Analysis of variability of high sensitivity C-reactive protein in lowland Ecuador reveals no evidence of chronic low-grade inflammation. Am J Hum Biol 24: 675-681.

• Kowal P, Chatterji S, Naidoo N, Biritwum R, Wu F, Lopez Ridaura R, Maximova T, Arokiasamy P, Phaswana-Mafuya N, Williams SR, Snodgrass JJ, Minicuci N, D’Este C, Boerma JT. 2012. Cohort profile: The WHO Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE). Int J Epidemiol 41: 1639-1649.

• Leonard WR, Snodgrass JJ, Robertson ML. 2012. Comparative and evolutionary perspectives on human brain growth. In: Cameron and Bogin (eds.) Human Growth and Development (2nd Edition). New York: Elsevier, pp. 397-414.
  

• McClure HH, Eddy JM, Kjellstrand JM, Snodgrass JJ, and Martinez CR. 2012. Child and adolescent affective and behavioral distress and elevated adult body mass index. J Child Psychiatry Hum Develop 43: 837-854. (link to article)

• Muchlinski MN, Snodgrass JJ, and Terranova CJ. 2012. Muscle mass scaling in primates: An energetic and ecological perspective. Am J Primatol 74: 395-407.

• Snodgrass JJ. 2012. Human energetics. In: Stinson et al. (eds.) Human Biology: An Evolutionary and Biocultural Approach (2nd Edition). New York: Wiley, pp. 327-386.

• Snodgrass JJ. 2011. Review of The Evolutionary Biology of Human Body Fatness (by JCK Wells). Q Rev Biol 86: 367-368. 

• Snodgrass JJ. 2011. Review of Human Evolutionary Biology (by MP Muehlenbein). Am J Hum Biol 23: 724-725.
  

• Snodgrass JJ, Leonard WR, Tarskaia LA, Klimova TM, Fedorova VI, Baltakhinova ME, Krivoshapkin VG. 2011. Metabolic adaptation in the Yakut (Sakha). Yakut Medical Journal 2(34): 11-14 (in Russian).

• Madimenos FC, Snodgrass JJ, Blackwell AD, Liebert MA, Sugiyama LS. 2011. Physical activity in an indigenous Ecuadorian forager-horticulturalist population as measured using accelerometry. Am J Hum Biol 23: 488-497.

• Blackwell AD, Gurven MD, Sugiyama LS, Madimenos FC, Liebert MA, Martin MA, Kaplan HS, Snodgrass JJ. 2011. Evidence for a peak shift in a humoral response to helminths: Age profiles of IgE in the Shuar of Ecuador, the Tsimane of Bolivia, and the U.S. NHANES. PLoS Neglect Trop D 5: e1218.

• Madimenos FC, Snodgrass JJ, Blackwell AD, Liebert MA, Cepon TJ, Sugiyama LS. 2011. Normative calcaneal quantitative ultrasound data for the indigenous Shuar and non-Shuar Colonos of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Arch Osteoporosis 6: 39-49.

• Leonard WR, Snodgrass JJ, and Robertson ML. 2011. Diet and brain evolution: Nutritional implications of large human brain size. In: Preedy et al. (eds.) Handbook of Behavior, Food and Nutrition. New York: Springer, pp. 3-15.
  

• Cepon TJ, Snodgrass JJ, Leonard WR, Tarskaia LA, Klimova TM, Fedorova VI, Baltakhinova ME, Krivoshapkin VG. 2011. Circumpolar adaptation, social change, and the development of autoimmune thyroid disorders among the Yakut (Sakha) of Siberia. Am J Hum Biol 23: 703-709.

Selected Publications (Publication Archive)

• Leonard WR, Robertson ML, Snodgrass JJ. 2010. What did humans evolve to eat? Metabolic implications of major trends in hominid evolution. In: Moffat and Prowse (eds.) Human Diet and Nutrition in Biocultural Perspective: Past Meets Present. New York: Berghahn Books, pp. 13-34.

• Blackwell AD, Snodgrass JJ, Madimenos FC, Sugiyama LS. 2010. Life history, immune function, and intestinal helminths: Trade-offs among immunoglobulin E, C-reactive protein, and growth in an Amazonian population. Am J Hum Biol 22: 836-848. (cover photo)

• Snodgrass JJ, Leonard WR, Tarskaia LA, et al. 2010. Impaired fasting glucose and the metabolic syndrome among an indigenous Siberian population. Int J Circumpol Health 69: 87-98.

• McClure HH, Snodgrass JJ, Martinez CR, Eddy JM, Jimenez RA, Isiordia LE. 2010. Discrimination, psychosocial stress, and health among Latin American immigrants in Oregon. Am J Hum Biol 22: 421-423.

• Raichlen DA, Gordon AD, Muchlinski MN, Snodgrass JJ. 2010. Causes and significance of variation in mammalian basal metabolism. J Comp Physiol B 180: 301-311.

• Snodgrass JJ and Leonard WR. 2009. Neandertal energetics revisited: Insights into population dynamics and life history evolution. PaleoAnthropology 2009: 220-237.

• Snodgrass JJ, Leonard WR, Robertson ML. 2009. The energetics of encephalization in early hominids. In: JJ Hublin & M Richards (eds.) Evolution of Hominid Diets: Integrating Approaches to the Study of Palaeolithic Subsistence. Dordrecht, Springer, pp. 15-29.

• Sorensen MV, Snodgrass JJ, Leonard WR, McDade TW, Tarskaya LA, Ivanov KI, Krivoshapkin VG, Alekseev VP. 2009. Lifestyle incongruity, stress and immune function in indigenous Siberians: The health impact of rapid social and economic change. Am J Phys Anthropol 138: 62-69.

• Snodgrass JJ, Leonard WR, Sorensen MV, Tarskaia LA, Mosher MJ. 2008. The influence of basal metabolic rate on blood pressure among indigenous Siberians. Am J Phys Anthropol 137: 145-155.

• Snodgrass JJ, Sorensen MV, Tarskaia LA, Leonard WR. 2007. Adaptive dimensions of health research among indigenous Siberians. Am J Hum Biol 19: 165-180. (cover photo)

• McDade TW, Williams SR, Snodgrass JJ. 2007. What a drop can do: Dried blood spots as a minimally-invasive method for integrating biomarkers in population-based research. Demography 44: 899-925.

• Snodgrass JJ, Leonard WR, Tarskaia LA, Schoeller DA. 2006. Total energy expenditure in the Yakut (Sakha) of Siberia as measured by the doubly labeled water method.  Am J Clin Nutr 84: 798-806.

• Snodgrass JJ, Leonard WR, Tarskaia LA, Alekseev VP, Krivoshapkin VG. 2005. Basal metabolic rate in the Yakut (Sakha) of Siberia. Am J Hum Biol 17: 155-172. (cover photo)