Dr Amanda Lea, Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University
Title: Lifestyle change and health in the Turkana of northwest Kenya
Abstract: The environments experienced by individuals living “modern”, “urban”, or “Western” lifestyles are deeply diverged from the ancestral selection pressures that have shaped human genomes through evolutionary time. Consequently, many have hypothesized that this “mismatch” —between evolved human phenotypes and modern life—is responsible for increasing rates of non-communicable diseases worldwide. However, despite the popularity and intuitive appeal of this idea, it has been difficult to test in practice. In particular, we lack direct evidence that health issues emerge when populations adapted to subsistence-level practices encounter modern, urban environments. Further, we lack an understanding of how the many factors that change during urban transitions, including physical activity, diet, early life conditions, and the social environment, interact to ultimately impact health. My research aims to address these gaps, by working with the Turkana people of Northwest Kenya who are currently transitioning from a traditional, pastoralist lifestyle to an urban, market-integrated lifestyle. Using genomic, transcriptomic, anthropological, and biomedical data collected from across this lifestyle gradient, my work centers on understanding 1) how the Turkana have adapted through evolutionary time to their pastoralist lifestyle, 2) the degree to which physiology and health are altered when individuals from this locally adapted genetic background move to cities, and 3) how early life experiences, social environmental conditions, diet, and other key factors contribute to lifestyle effects on health. Together, this work aims to bring attention to non-communicable disease emergence in transitioning societies, and to more generally shed new light on our evolutionary interpretation of environmentally-induced disease.
Zoom: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/92826436236?pwd=SytQNTNPSWdwaDNlTm05d2srdXNHUT09
Meeting ID: 928 2643 6236
Passcode: BEC