Katherine Wander
Associate Professor
Anthropology
Background
Kathy Wander is a biological anthropologist and epidemiologist working at the intersection of human evolutionary biology and health. Much of her research seeks to understand how humans (and in particular, children) cope with nutritional and infectious disease stress, and the impact of malnutrition and infectious disease on the protective and pathological capacity of the immune system. She has recently published papers about a method developed in her lab: to describe immune activity in human milk; the impact of gender and kinship on risk for chronic disease; and, how genetic adaptations to high altitude may decrease risk for chronic disease among Himalayan-descended populations. She has active grants to investigate nutrition and infectious disease risk in Tanzania and Nigeria.
Education
- MPH, PhD, The University of Washington
- BA, The Ohio State University
Research Interests
- Epidemiology and Global Health
- infectious disease ecology
- immune function
- growth and development
- nutrition
- female circumcision
- East Africa
- West Africa
