LECTURE SERIES
Room 407 Lecture Series tinyurl.com/Lecture407
How to Fix the Obesity Crisis in America, September 11, 2014
Richard K. Fleming, PhD,
Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director
Department of Exercise and Health Psychology
University of Massachusetts Boston
http://www.umb.edu/academics/cnhs/faculty_staff/faculty/richard_k._fleming
Professor Fleming conducts research on lifestyle change to prevent and treat childhood obesity, and increase physical activity and fitness, with special emphasis on adolescents with intellectual and developmental disabilities. His recent NIH-funded research projects have included an investigation of the effects of family-based behavioral intervention to promote weight loss and weight maintenance in adolescents with Down syndrome (DS), a community-based participatory research study to increase moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder, and a comprehensive YMCA-based exercise program to increase fitness in adolescents with DS. In addition, he also conducts NIH-funded research and development on distance learning options for oral health professionals seeking to learn more about serving patients with developmental disabilities. He has served on numerous national advisory boards and research consensus panels in the areas of childhood health and intellectual disabilities
Recommended Reading: Freedman, D. (n.d.). How to Fix the Obesity Crisis. Scientific American, 40-47. Link
Human Genetics and Evolution, February 24, 2015
Alan Templeton, PhD
Charles Rebstock Professor of Biology Emeritus
Department of Biology
Washington University in St. Louis
Alan's work involves the application of molecular genetic techniques and statistical population genetics to a variety of evolutionary problems, both basic and applied. He applies evolutionary approaches to clinical genetics, including the study of the genetics of complex diseases, such as coronary artery disease and end-stage kidney disease, and to the relationship of the microbiome to clinically relevant traits. He also applies evolutionary genetics to conservation biology, with his main current focus being the impact of managed forest fires at the landscape level upon the genetic population structure of species inhabiting that landscape, such as the Eastern collared lizard (Crotaphytus collaris collaris) and lichen hoppers (Trimerotropis saxatilis) and the impact of human activities upon dispersal in the endangered fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra infraimmuculata) in Northern Israel and the wild ass in Southern Israel. He also studies the role of plasticity in gene expression in allowing the fire salamanders to survive in a wide variety of environments. Finally, he is interested in basic questions about evolution, such as the meaning of "species" and the mechanisms by which new species evolve, and human evolution over the last two million years, including the issue of human “race”.
Recommended Reading:
Hochberg Z., Templeton A. R. (2010). Evolutionary perspective in skin color, vitamin D and its receptor. Hormones (Athens) 9, 307–311 10.14310/horm.2002.1281 LINK
Human Evolution, February 26, 2015
John Hawks, PhD
Associate Professor of Anthropology
University of Wisconsin-Madison
I investigate human evolution in its morphological and genetic aspects. During the last year I have been applying genomic data from humans to explain changes in natural selection on human populations. I also have been active in researching the fate of the Neandertals, including their genetic and morphological links to later populations.
On Science Friday
Evolution of Skin Color Variations in Humans, March 2, 2015
Nina Jablonski, PhD
Evan Pugh Professor of Anthropology
Penn State University
TED Talk - Skin Color is an Illusion http://www.ted.com/talks/nina_jablonski_breaks_the_illusion_of_skin_color?language=en
Evolution of human skin and skin pigmentation: Study of the origin, evolution, and consequences of a functionally naked and pigmented integument in humans, drawing upon anatomical, physiological, paleontological, epidemiological, and environmental data. Related to this is research on the evolution of vitamin D requirements and metabolism in relation to human migrations and urbanization.
Jablonski, N.G. (2012) Living Color: The Biological and Social Meaning of Skin Color. Berkeley, University of California Press.
Jablonski, N.G. (2006) Skin: A Natural History. Berkeley, University of California Press.
Malaria and Sickle Cell Anemia, Genetics and Evolution, March 4, 2015
Sarah K. Volkman, Sc.D
Principal Research Scientist
Department of Immunology and Infectious Disease
Harvard University
Sarah Volkman has over twenty years of experience in malaria biology and is a world expert on malaria with a focus on mechanisms of drug resistance. Her primary research interest centers on understanding genetic variation in Plasmodium falciparum, a causative agent of human malaria infection. She is particularly interested in using population genetic strategies to identify genetic loci that contribute to drug resistance in this organism. She is currently working toward the development of a genetic Diversity Map for P. falciparum that may ultimately be used to associate genetic polymorphisms with biologically and clinically relevant phenotypes.
Park DJ, Lukens AK, Neafsey DE, Schaffner SF, Chang HH, Valim C, Ribacke U, Van Tyne D, Galinsky K, Galligan M, Becker JS, Ndiaye D, Mboup S, Wiegand RC, Hartl DL, Sabeti PC, Wirth DF, Volkman SK,Sequence-based association and selection scans identify drug resistance loci in the Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasite, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Aug 7;109(32):13052-7. Epub 2012 Jul 23.
Complexity, Evolution, and Natural Selection
Carl Zimmer, March 25, 2015
Science Journalist, New York Times
Yale University, CarlZimmer.com
Carl Zimmer is a columnist at the New York Times, where his column “Matter” appears each Thursday. In his books, essays, articles, and blog posts, Zimmer reports from the frontiers of biology, where scientists are expanding our understanding of life. He is a popular speaker at universities, medical schools, museums, and festivals, and he is also a guest on radio programs such as Radiolab and This American Life.
Zimmer is the author of twelve books about science. Soul Made Flesh, a history of neuroscience, was named one of the top 100 books of the year by The New York Times Book Review, and dubbed a "tour-de-force" by The Sunday Telegraph.Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea was called "as fine a book as one will find on the subject" by Scientific American. His other books include At the Water's Edge, a book about major transitions in the history of life; The Smithsonian Intimate Guide to Human Origins; and Parasite Rex, which the Los Angeles Times described as "a book capable of changing how we see the world." Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of Life, was hailed by The Boston Globe as "superb...quietly revolutionary." It was a finalist for the 2009 Los Angeles Times Science Book Prize. Science Ink: Tattoos of the Science Obsessed has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Guardian, Der Spiegel, and the Huffington Post. In 2011 Zimmer also published A Planet of Viruses, a book of essays about the world's smallest, most abundant life forms, about which the Washington Post declared, "Science writer Carl Zimmer accomplishes in a mere 100 pages what other authors struggle to do in 500: He reshapes our understanding of the hidden realities at the core of everyday existence."