J. Josh Snodgrass, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon

Research Interests

My research focuses on human adaptation and global health, with an emphasis on four main topics: 1) human
adaptation to environmental stressors (particularly cold stress); 2) the influence of economic and cultural change
on cardiovascular and metabolic health; 3) the effects of psychosocial stress on health; and 4) the evolution of the
human diet. I have active field projects in northeastern Siberia, the Amazon region of Ecuador, and several locations
within Oregon. I also direct a 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 research.

Ongoing Research Projects

Metabolic adaptation and health change among indigenous Siberians
Since 2001, I have conducted research in northeastern Siberia as part of a collaborative research project that
includes scientists from Russia and the United States. The project has two major research lines. The first
examines adaptation to the circumpolar environment, with a focus on evaluating evidence for metabolic
adaptation to cold stress among indigenous Siberians. In short, this research has tested the hypothesis that
human groups native to the cold have elevated resting metabolic rates as a result of chronic cold stress. Our
findings to date have supported this conclusion and we continue to do research along these lines. Second, my
research has focused on investigating the health effects of economic and social changes on indigenous Siberians
in the post-Soviet period, with an emphasis on cardiovascular disease. We are investigating the factors, such as
dietary change, altered patterns of physical activity, and levels of chronic stress, that may contribute to the increased
burden of stroke and heart disease that has emerged in the past decade.

This research is currently funded by NSF (Office of Polar Programs), the University of Oregon, Northwestern University,
and the FSRI Institute of Health (Yakutsk, Russia). In the past, we have received funding from Sigma Xi, the Leakey Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, and the Yakut Science Center (Yakutsk, Russia).




                                             
Past and Present Collaborators
Bill Leonard, Northwestern University
Michael Crawford, University of Kansas
Larissa Tarskaia-Nichols, Russian Academy of Sciences and University of Kansas
Mark Sorensen, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Sharon Williams, Purdue University

Scientists from the Yakut Scientific Center (Drs. Tomsky, Egorova, Maharova, Matveeva, Pinigina, Halyev, and
Romanova) and the Sakha Institute of Health (Drs. Krivoshapkin and Klimova)

Graduate Student Collaborators
Tara Cepon, University of Oregon

Selected Publications
Snodgrass JJ, Leonard WR, Sorensen MV, et al. 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.

Snodgrass JJ, Leonard WR, Tarskaia LA, et al. 2005. Basal metabolic rate in the Yakut (Sakha) of Siberia.
Am J Hum Biol 17: 155-172.


Shuar Health and Life History Project
The Shuar Health and Life History Project is a collaborative research project that I co-direct with Larry Sugiyama that
is an extension of the Shuar Life History Project. The goal of the Shuar Health and Life History Project is threefold.
First, we are investigating the effects of market integration on Shuar health. The project focuses on the effects of
cultural and economic change on growth and nutritional status among Shuar kids, as well as the changing pattern
of chronic disease prevalence (e.g., cardiovascular, metabolic, and skeletal health) among Shuar adults. Second, we
are using a life history perspective to better understand the trade-offs between different branches of immune
function in Shuar kids, and to use this information to better understand how energy is allocated to competing
priorities such as maintenance, growth, and reproduction. Finally, we seek to provide health information to participants
and community partners in order to assist in targeting prevention and treatment efforts. Research is centered in the Morona-Santiago region of Ecuador.

This research is currently funded by NSF (Physical Anthropology), the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the Leakey Foundation,
and the University of Oregon. In the past, the project has received funding from NIH (via the UC Santa Barbara Center
for Evolutionary Psychology), the Sasakawa Fund, and the Evonuk Foundation.





Collaborators
Larry Sugiyama, University of Oregon
Washington Tiwi, Federacíon Interprovincial de Centros Shuar
Jose Pozo, Ministerio de Salud Pública del Ecuador

Graduate Student Collaborators
Aaron Blackwell, University of Oregon
Tara Cepon, University of Oregon
Tiffany Gandolfo, University of Oregon
Melissa Liebert, University of Oregon
Felicia Madimenos, University of Oregon

Selected Project Publications
Blackwell AD et al. 2008. Growth and market integration in Amazonia: A comparison of growth indicators between
Shuar, Shiwiar, and nonindigenous school children. Am J Hum Biol 21: 161-171.

Snodgrass et al. 2009. Growth and nutritional status in an indigenous lowland Ecuadorian population. Am J Phys
Anthropol (Supplement) 48: 243-244.

Madimenos et al. 2009. Physical activity measured using accelerometry in an indigenous lowland Ecuadorian
population. Am J Hum Biol 21: 260.


Stress, discrimination, and health among Latin American immigrants in Oregon
I am also part of a collaborative research project that uses biomarkers of stress to examine the effects of
discrimination on health among Latin American immigrants in Oregon. The project is a collaborative effort
with the Latino Research Team at the Oregon Social Learning Center and the Farmworker Housing
Development Corporation. The project was initiated in 2007 and, with financial support from NIH, Oregon Social
Learning Center and the Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies at the University of Oregon, we
conducted three waves of pilot data collection. We are currently analyzing samples from the project in my lab
and are in the early stages of publication of the results of the study. We are also writing grants to continue
and expand the research.


Main Collaborators
Heather McClure, Oregon Social Learning Center
Charles Martinez, Oregon Social Learning Center
Mark Eddy, Oregon Social Learning Center
Roberto Jimenez, Farmworker Housing Development Corporation
Laura Isiordia, Farmworker Housing Development Corporation

Student Collaborators
Sara Epstein (undergraduate student), University of Oregon
Felicia Madimenos (graduate student), University of Oregon
Erica Midttveit (graduate student), University of Oregon

Selected Publications
McClure et al. 2008. Psychosocial stress among Latino immigrants in Oregon (abstract). Am J Hum Biol 20: 227.

McClure et al. 2010. Discrimination, psychosocial stress, and health among Latin American immigrants in Oregon.
Am J Hum Biol, in press.


Community-based Health Activation Project (CHAP)
This initiative is a collaborative, community-based participatory research project that unites social and medical
scientists from the University of Oregon, Oregon Heart and Vascular Institute (PeaceHealth), and Oregon
Medical Laboratories with community leaders and local organizations in Cottage Grove, Oregon. The overarching
goal of this partnership, known as CHAP (Community-based Health Activation Project), is to reduce adverse
chronic illness and to improve cardiovascular health and well-being for communities, using Cottage Grove as
a model. We are particularly interested in the contribution of social and economic stressors to disease, as well
as how innovative technology (e.g., home collection of biomarkers of cardiovascular health) can be used to help
people take control of their own health.

Main Collaborators
Mary Fechner, PhD (University of Oregon)
Loren Barlow, MD (PeaceHealth)
Sarah Grall, MS (Oregon Heart and Vascular Institute, PeaceHealth)
Brigitte Piniewski, MD (Oregon Medical Laboratories)
Frances White, PhD (University of Oregon)
Amy Callahan (Cottage Grove Hospital Foundation)
Mark Gotcher, OD (Cottage Grove Health Consortium)
Marsha Crosswhite, RN (Cottage Grove Critical Access Hospital)


Development of biomarkers for assessing health and physiology in population-based research
My research also involves the development and validation of new, minimally invasive techniques for assessing
health and physiology in population-based research. During my NIA-sponsored postdoctoral fellowship I worked
closely with Thom McDade and Sharon Williams to develop new techniques, using ELISA and Luminex platforms,
that allow researchers to measure different aspects of health and physiology. I have continued to collaborate
with Sharon Williams as part of the World Health Organization's SAGE (Study of Adult Health and Global Ageing)
project to train WHO participating scientists, coordinate biomarker collection, and standardize the laboratory
protocols for five countries (China, Russia, South Africa, Ghana, and India) participating in the study.


Main Collaborators
Thom McDade, Northwestern University
Sharon Williams, Purdue University

Graduate Student Collaborators
Erica Midttveit, University of Oregon

Selected Publications
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, Williams SR, McDade. 2006. Measurement of human pituitary hormones in dried blood spots by
multiplex immunoassay. Am J Phys Anthropol (Suppl) 42: 168.

Snodgrass JJ. 2006. Viability of capillary blood collection for use in population-based health research. Paper
presented at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America, Los Angeles, CA.


Evolution of the human diet
Since 1998, I have collaborated with Bill Leonard and Marcia Robertson on research that addresses the evolution
of the human diet. Some of the issues we have addressed in this research include the evolution of early hominid
diets, brain evolution in the genus Homo, early primate ecology and energetics, and Neandertal energetics.

Selected Publications
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.

Snodgrass JJ, Leonard WR. 2009. Neandertal energetics revisited: Insights into population dynamics and life
history evolution. PaleoAnthropology 2009: 220-237.
   
Snodgrass JJ, Leonard WR, Robertson ML. 2007. Primate bioenergetics: An evolutionary perspective. In: M Ravosa
& M Dagosto (eds.) Primate Origins: Adaptations and Evolution. New York, Springer, pp. 703-737.

Leonard WR, Snodgrass JJ, Robertson ML. 2007. Effects of brain evolution on human nutrition and metabolism.
Annu Rev Nutr 27: 311-327.

Leonard WR, Robertson ML, Snodgrass JJ, Kuzawa CW. 2003. Metabolic correlates of hominid brain expansion.
Comp Biochem Physiol 136A: 5-15.