Spring 2016

Friday, March 4th 11:45 am Gross Hall Room 103 Dr. Silk, of the Arizona State University School of Human Evolution and Social Change, is an expert in the social evolution of primates and humans and has recently been investigating the origins of prosocial behavior in humans through studies of non-human primates. Her work explores the connection between sociality and health/ fitness in non-human primates, and is informed by similar work in humans.

The economic crisis of 2008 called attention to the risks associated with rising household and consumer debt. Over the last forty years, inflation adjusted household debt has increased dramatically, and debt has become more difficult for American families to repay. The ability to borrow is a significant resource through which to invest in human capital, purchase goods and services, and smooth consumption.

Residents of distressed urban areas suffer early aging-related disease and excess mortality. Using a community-based participatory research approach in a collaboration between social science researchers and cellular biologists, we collected a unique data set of 239 black, white, or Mexican adults from a stratified, multi-stage probability sample of three Detroit neighborhoods. We drew venous blood and measured Telomere Length (TL), an indicator of stress-mediated biological aging, linking respondents’ TL to their community survey responses.

Research on the maternal education gradient in child health generally views the strength of the gradient as fixed across the twentieth century. However, secular trends in health and education might have narrowed the education gradient across birth cohorts, whereas advantaged families’ engagement in a “reproduction project” marked by increased child-focused resource allocation might have offset these gains.