ANT 318-000: Predicting Lifespan Health (Spring 2010)

Semester Details: This is a research seminar exploring the intersection of genomics, the environment, and lifestyle/behavior as it pertains to human health from a developmental perspective with the aim of understanding human health over the lifespan. A substantial body of evidence has been published over the past decade documenting that lifespan health owes much to prenatal development. These observations began with epidemiological reports of population level cross-sectional correlations between size at birth and adult health outcomes, quickly followed by animal studies directed at testing hypotheses about mechanisms that would tie together specific insults and organ growth, metabolic pathways and epigenetic effects. Investigations of mechanisms among humans are underway.

The goal of this class is to acquaint students with the theoretical perspectives of lifespan health, introduce them to the evidentiary base, critically assess the evidence to date, and prompt thinking about novel approaches to confront the challenges of human biology in our modern world.

Particulars: Students will be expected to actively engage in topical areas each week, participating in class discussion, presentation, and active interchange of ideas.

Class requirements: Weekly reading assignments, two short reports and one term paper.