Dr. Josh Snodgrass -- 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 social/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

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.

I am also 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).

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.

Ongoing Research Projects

Indigenous Siberian Health and Adaptation Project
Since 2001, I have conducted research in northeastern Siberia as part of a collaborative research project (The Indigenous Siberian Health and Adaptation Project) that includes scientists from Russia and the United States. I co-direct the project along with Bill Leonard of Northwestern University. 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, our 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 and diabetes. We are investigating the factors, such as dietary change, altered patterns of physical activity, and levels of chronic psychological stress, that may contribute to the increased burden of stroke and heart disease that has emerged in the past decade. Click here for the Siberia project website.

The project has received funding from NSF (Office of Polar Programs), the University of Oregon, Northwestern University,
the FSRI Institute of Health (Yakutsk, Russia), Sigma Xi, the Leakey Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, and the Yakut Science Center (Yakutsk, Russia).




                                             
Project Website
http://www.bonesandbehavior.org/siberia.html

Primary Project Personnel
Bill Leonard, Northwestern University
Larissa Tarskaia, Russian Academy of Sciences and University of Kansas

Other Past Senior Collaborators
Michael Crawford, University of Kansas
Mark Sorensen, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

Russian Collaborators (Past and Present)
Scientists from the Yakut Scientific Center (Drs. Tomsky, Egorova, Maharova, Matveeva, Pinigina, Halyev, and
Romanova) and the Research Institute of Health, North-Eastern Federal University, Yakutsk, Russia (Drs. Krivoshapkin, Klimova, Fedorova, and Baltakhinova)

Graduate Student and Postdoc Collaborators
Tara Cepon-Robins, former PhD Student, University of Oregon--now Assistant Professor at Colorado-Colorado Springs
Stephanie Levy, PhD Student, Northwestern University
Melissa Liebert, PhD Student, University of Oregon
Hannah Wilson, Postdoctoral Fellow, Northwestern University

Undergraduate Student Involvement (Past and Present)
Vimal Balu, former undergraduate, University of Oregon
Tyler Barrett, former undergraduate, University of Oregon--now a graduate student at Northwestern University
Katie Schweber, former undergraduate, University of Oregon
Elizabeth Streeter, former undergraduate, University of Oregon

Selected Publications
Wilson HJ, Leonard WR, Tarskaia LA, Klimova TM, Krivoshapkin VG, and Snodgrass JJ. 2015. Do physical activity and sedentary behavior relate to cardio-metabolic risk factor clustering in indigenous Siberian adults? Am J Hum Biol 27: 149-156.

Leonard WR, Levy SB, Tarskaia LA, Klimova TM, Fedorova VI, Baltakhinova ME, Krivoshapkin VG, and Snodgrass JJ. 2014. Seasonal variation in basal metabolic rates among the Yakut (Sakha) of northeastern Siberia. Am J Hum Biol 26: 437-445.

 
Wilson HJ, Leonard WR, Tarskaia LA, Klimova TM, Krivoshapkin VG, and Snodgrass JJ. 2014. Objectively measured physical activity and sedentary behaviour of Yakut (Sakha) adults. Ann Hum Biol 41: 180-186.

Snodgrass JJ. 2013. Health of indigenous circumpolar populations. Annu Rev Anthropol 42: 69-87.

Levy SB, Leonard WR, Tarskaia LA, Klimova TM, Fedorova VI, Baltakhinova ME, Krivoshapkin VG, and Snodgrass JJ. 2013. Seasonal and socioeconomic influences on thyroid function among the Yakut (Sakha) of Eastern Siberia. Am J Hum Biol 25: 814-820.
 
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).

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.

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.

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




Project Website
http://www.bonesandbehavior.org/shuar/

Primary Project Personnel
Larry Sugiyama, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Oregon
Tara Cepon-Robins, former PhD Student, University of Oregon--now Assistant Professor at Colorado-Colorado Springs
Melissa Liebert, PhD Student, University of Oregon
Felicia Madimenos, former PhD Student, University of Oregon--now Assistant Professor at CUNY-Queens College

Other Senior Collaborators (Past and Present)
Rick Bribiescas, Professor of Anthropology, Yale University
Aaron Blackwell, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara
Thom McDade, Professor of Anthropology, Northwestern University

Ecuadorian Collaborators
Washington Tiwi, Federacíon Interprovincial de Centros Shuar
Jose Pozo, Ministerio de Salud Pública del Ecuador

Graduate Student Collaborators (Past and Present)
Dorsa Amir, PhD Student, Yale University
Alese Colehour, PhD Student, University of Oregon
Tiffany Gandolfo, (MS completed at University of Oregon in 2010)
Theresa Gildner, PhD Student, University of Oregon
Julia Ridgeway-Diaz (MS completed at University of Oregon in 2011)
Terry Rueckert (MS completed at University of Oregon in 2011)
Heather Shattuck-Faegre, PhD Student, Harvard University
Paula Tallman, PhD Student, Northwestern University
Sam Urlacher, PhD Student, Harvard University

Undergraduate Student Involvement
Ruby Fried, University of Oregon (now a graduate student at Northwestern University)
Sierra Thompson, University of Oregon (BS completed at UO in 2013)
Heather Shattuck-Faegre (now a graduate student at Harvard University)

Selected Project Publications
Urlacher SS, Blackwell AD, Liebert MA, Madimenos FC, Cepon-Robins TJ, Gildner TE, Snodgrass JJ, and Sugiyama LS. 2016. Physical Growth of the Shuar: Height, Weight, and BMI Growth References for an Indigenous Amazonian Population. Am J Hum Biol 28, in press. (link to paper)

Madimenos FC, Liebert MA, Cepon-Robins TJ, Snodgrass JJ, and Sugiyama LS. 2015. Determining osteoporosis risk in older Colono adults from rural Amazonian Ecuador using calcaneal ultrasonometry. Am J Hum Biol 27: 139-142.

Scott IM, Clark AP, Josephson SC, Boyette A, Cuthill I, Fried R, Gibson M, Hewlett B, Jamieson M, Jankowiak W, Honey PL, Huang Z, Liebert MA, Purzycki BG, Shaver J, Snodgrass JJ, Sosis R, Sugiyama LS, Swami V, Yu DW, Zhao Y, and Penton-Voak IS. 2014. Human preferences for sexually dimorphic faces may be evolutionarily novel. PNAS 111: 14388-14393.

Cepon TJ, Liebert MA, Gildner TE, Urlacher SS, Colehour AM, Snodgrass JJ, Madimenos FC, and Sugiyama LS. 2014. Soil-transmitted helminth prevalence and infection intensity among geographically and economically distinct Shuar communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon. J Parasitol 100: 598-607.

Colehour AM, Meadow JF, Liebert MA, Cepon-Robins TJ, Gildner TE, Urlacher SS, Bohannan BJM, Snodgrass JJ, and Sugiyama LS. 2014. Local domestication of lactic acid bacteria via cassava beer fermentation. PeerJ 2:e479.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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)

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.


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 Charles Martinez and Heather McClure of the the Latino Research Team at the University of Oregon (formerly of 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, the Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies at the University of Oregon, and my lab, we conducted three waves of pilot data collection. We analyzed samples from the project in my lab and are in the process of publishing the results of the study. We are also writing grants to continue and expand the research.


Primary Collaborators
Heather McClure, University of Oregon
Charles Martinez, Jr., University of Oregon
Mark Eddy, University of Washington
Roberto Jimenez, Farmworker Housing Development Corporation

Graduate Student Collaborators (Past)
Felicia Madimenos, University of Oregon
Erica Squires, University of Oregon

Undergraduate Student Involvement (Past)
Keshia Baker, University of Oregon
Sara Epstein, University of Oregon
Isabella Valderrama, University of Oregon

Selected Publications
McClure HH, Snodgrass JJ, Martinez CR, Squires EC, Jimenez RA, Isiordia LE, Eddy JM, and McDade TW. 2015. Stress, place, and allostatic load among Mexican immigrant farmworkers in Oregon. J Immigr Minor Health .

McClure et al. 2013. Integrating biomarkers into research with Latino immigrants in the United States. Adv Anthropol 3: 112-120.

Squires et al. 2012. Diurnal cortisol rhythms among Latino immigrants in Oregon, USA. J Physiol Anthropol 31: 19.

McClure et al. 2010. Discrimination-related stress, blood pressure, and immune function among Latin American immigrants in Oregon. J Biosocial Sci 42: 433-461.

McClure et al. 2010. Discrimination, psychosocial stress, and health among Latin American immigrants in Oregon.
Am J Hum Biol 22: 421-423.


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.


Past Main Collaborators
Geeta Eick, University of Oregon

Graduate Student Collaborators
Sam Urlacher, Harvard University

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.


The Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE)
Since 2005, I have been an investigator on the World Health Organization's Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE). SAGE is a multi-wave panel survey of age-related changes in health and well-being, with nationally representative population surveys in six countries (China, Russia, South Africa, Mexico, Ghana, and India). SAGE is directed by PI Somnath Chatterji and co-PI Paul Kowal. The study is currently funded by NIH NIA. My role began as a consultant on the biomarker component of the study. In that capacity, I collaborated with Sharon Williams of Purdue University to train WHO participating scientists, coordinate biomarker collection, and standardize the laboratory protocols for the six countries  participating in the study. My role on the project has expanded to a key investigator and I am currently analyzing data from Wave 1 data and preparing manuscripts for publication.


Main Collaborators
Somnath Chatterji, WHO
Paul Kowal, WHO and University of Newcastle (Australia)
Sharon Williams, Purdue University/AAAS

Graduate Student Collaborators
Tara Cepon-Robins, former PhD Student, University of Oregon--now Assistant Professor at Colorado-Colorado Springs
Theresa Gildner, University of Oregon
Melissa Liebert, University of Oregon
Felicia Madimenos, former PhD Student, University of Oregon--now Assistant Professor at CUNY-Queens

Undergraduate Student Involvement
Tyler Barrett, former undergraduate, University of Oregon--now a graduate student at Northwestern University
Robyn Brigham, University of Oregon
Lauren Hawkins, University of Oregon
Will Olson, University of Oregon
Callie Porter, University of Oregon
Austin Wong, University of Oregon

Selected Publications
Kowal P, Arokiasamy P, Afshar S, Pati S, and Snodgrass JJ. 2015. Multimorbidity: Health care that counts past one for 1.2 billion older adults. Lancet.

Gildner TE, Liebert MA, Kowal P, Chatterji S, and Snodgrass JJ. 2014. Effect of sleep quality and duration on cognitive function among older adults from six middle income countries: Results from the Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE). J Clin Sleep Med 10: 613-621.

Peltzer K, Williams JS, Kowal P, Negin J, Snodgrass JJ, Yawson AE, Minicuci N, Thiele EA, Phaswana-Mafuya N, Biritwum R, and Chatterji, S. 2014. Universal health coverage in emerging economies: Findings on health care utilization by older adults in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, the Russian Federation and South Africa. Glob Health Act.

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.


Human/primate energetics and the 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. 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 article in Nature, from an issue focused on the emerging field of nutrigenomics, that includes some quotes from me on the evolution of the human diet. I've also started several other collaborations related to human energetics and the evolution of the human diet, including with Susan Antón and Magda Muchlinski.


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

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. (link to chapter)

Muchlinski MN, Snodgrass JJ, and Terranova CJ. 2012. Muscle mass scaling in primates: An energetic and ecological perspective. Am J Primatol. (link to article)

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.

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.

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.