Susan N. Tanner

Assistant Professor
Ph.D. Anthropology, University of Michigan, 2005
stanner1@uga.edu

Areas of Specialization:

Human adaptation; growth and development; biocultural approaches to health and disease; evolutionary medicine; parasitism and immune function; Bolivia and South America.


Research and Teaching Interests

As a biological anthropologist, I am interested in the dynamic interactions between human behavior, biological variation and patterns of health and disease.  In my research and teaching, I rely on a biocultural perspective to consider behavioral, economic, and biological correlates of human adaptability.  I am interested in examining the multiple pathways through which culture change may affect health, specifically focusing on two central questions: 1) how does educational and economic variation influence the distribution of infectious disease and 2) in what ways does frequent disease exposure contribute to nutritional stress and patterns of poor childhood growth. I have focused my research of these questions in lowland Bolivia.

The development of field-friendly biomarkers of health provides anthropology with tools to investigate the intersections between human biology and behavior—a fundamental point of tension for biocultural research. In collaboration with researchers at Northwestern University, I am currently developing an immunological assay for Immunoglobulin E (IgE) that relies on the field-friendly method of dried blood spot collection.  This research will provide insight into the complex interrelations between the ecology of infectious disease, immune function, and human growth in a population chronically exposed to infectious disease.

Teaching

Human Adaptation (Anthro 4790/6790) – Spring 2007
Culture and Human Biology (Anthro 2070H) – Spring 2007
Ecology and Evolution of Human Disease (Anthro 4590/6590) – Fall 2007
Human Growth and Development: Anthropological Approaches–(Anthro 4050)- Fall 2007

Selected publications:

• Tanner S and McDade TW. 2007. Enzyme Immunoassay for Total Immunoglobulin E in Dried Blood Spots. American Journal of Human Biology. 19(4):440-442.

• McDade TW, Reyes-García V, Blackingon P, Tanner S, Huanca T, and Leonard WR. 2007. Ethnobotanical knowledge is associated with indices of child health in the Bolivian Amazon. PNAS. 104(15):6134-6139.

• Reyes-García V, Vadez V, Tanner S, McDade T, Huanca T, Leonard WR. 2006. Evaluating indices of traditional ecological knowledge: a methodological contribution. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 2:21-30.

• Godoy R, Reyes-Garcia V, Huanca T, Leonard WR, McDade TW, Tanner S, Vadez V. 2006. Why do mothers favor girls and fathers boys? A hypothesis and test of intra-household girl-boy investment disparity. Human Nature. Vol. 17(2) : p169-189.

• Tanner S. 2005. A Population in Transition: Health, Culture Change, and Intestinal Parasitism among the Tsimane’ of lowland Bolivia. Ph.D. Dissertation. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

• Foster Z, Byron E, Reyes-Garcia V, Huanca T, Vadez V, Apaza L, Perez E, Tanner S, Gutierrez Y, Sandstrom B, Yakhedts A, Osborn C, Godoy R, Leonard WR. 2005. Physical growth and nutritional status of Tsimane Amerindian children of lowland Bolivia. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 126(3): 343-351.

• Godoy RA, Huanca T, Reyes-Garcia V, Tanner S, Leonard WR, McDade TW, Vadez V.
  2005. Do smiles have a face value?  Panel evidence from foragers and farmers in the Bolivian Amazon. Journal of Economic Psychology. 26(4): 469-490.

• Frisancho AR, Gilding N, and Tanner S. 2001. Growth of leg length is reflected in socio-economic differences.  Acta Med Auxologica 33(1): 47-50.

• Frisancho AR, Tanner S, and Abrams E. 2001. Influence of parental obesity of Mexican-American children.  Acta Medica Auxologica.  33:213-217.