51st Meeting of the
Human Biology Association
March 18-20, 2026 | Denver, CO, USA
Conference Agenda
Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).
Please note that all times are shown in the time zone of the conference. The current conference time is: 19th Mar 2026, 08:14:00pm EDT
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Session Overview | |
| Location: Governer's Square 14 |
| Date: Wednesday, 18/Mar/2026 | |
| 11:00am - 12:30pm |
Editorial Board Meeting Location: Governer's Square 14 |
| 11:30am - 12:30pm |
Breakout Session: Building resources for community engaged research in human biology: Gathering member feedback and determining next steps Location: Governer's Square 14 |
| 1:00pm - 2:15pm |
Plenary Session Location: Governer's Square 14 Chair: Michael Muehlenbein Introduction to Plenary Session 1:05pm - 1:12pm Scholarly renewal as a lesson learned 1:12pm - 1:19pm Challenges of collecting and transporting biological samples from the field to the lab 1:19pm - 1:26pm The Adventures of Poop Girl and Number 2: Lessons learned collecting and analyzing stool samples for parasitological detection in field settings 1:26pm - 1:33pm Bringing WEIRD instruments to the bush: reflections on applying and discarding validated surveys for work with rural Namibian agropastoralists 1:33pm - 1:40pm Beyond the promise: Navigating challenges with point-of-care tests in field research 1:40pm - 1:47pm Salivary bacteria-killing assay: protocol standardization and performance checks 1:47pm - 1:54pm The measurement of hot flashes for cross-population comparisons 1:54pm - 2:01pm There is Contamination Everywhere: how the wild west of ancient DNA was won (with a little help from Bigfoot) 2:01pm - 2:08pm Minimally invasive assessment of gut function: Tips and tools from the Human Evolutionary Biology and Health Lab 2:08pm - 2:15pm Getting the Signal Right: Methodological Considerations in Hair Cortisol Dynamics |
| 2:30pm - 3:30pm |
Plenary Session (continued) Location: Governer's Square 14 Chair: Michael Muehlenbein A modest message on methods 2:37pm - 2:44pm One “lona”, two “cubetas”, three “pancles” and invisible tortillas- the importance of situated knowledge for food-related research. 2:44pm - 2:51pm How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Formal Theory 2:51pm - 2:58pm Benefits and pitfalls of using secondary datasets to answer anthropological questions 2:58pm - 3:05pm Torn between the field, the bench, and the computer: the necessity of collaboration in human evolutionary biology research 3:05pm - 3:12pm Study populations and women’s health 3:12pm - 3:19pm The value of fieldwork and the people who make it possible 3:19pm - 3:26pm oh to turn back the clock…learning from missed opportunities to create transdisciplinary biocultural approaches |
| 5:00pm - 6:00pm |
Keynote Speaker, Larry Schell: Human Biology Research: Rickety Roads and Superhighways Location: Governer's Square 14 |
| Date: Thursday, 19/Mar/2026 | |
| 8:00am - 9:45am |
Podium A: Stress, Inequality, and Health Across the Life Course Location: Governer's Square 14 Chair: Ines Varela-Silva Allostatic load mediates the long-term health impact of childhood adversity 8:07am - 8:14am Updating the DOHaD model of racial health inequality: The push-pull forces that uncouple CVD from birth weight 8:14am - 8:21am DOHaD, famine, and disease: A meta-analysis across different ages of exposure 8:21am - 8:28am Stress and Anxiety as Mediators Between Adult ADHD and Depression: Evidence from Young Adults in Delhi-NCR, India 8:28am - 8:35am Exploring gender, social support, health, and aging in an urban US population – Integrating mixed methods approaches in studies of human biology in vulnerable communities 8:35am - 8:42am Healthcare access disruptions and maternal mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic among Latinas receiving prenatal care in El Paso, Texas 8:42am - 8:49am Syndemic water and food insecurity in Galapagos: Impact on adult metabolic health in households with diabetes 8:49am - 8:56am Factors Associated with Food Insecurity Among People Experiencing Homelessness in Oregon 8:56am - 9:03am The additional chronic stress burden of reproductive status on women in a high-water insecurity environment 9:03am - 9:10am Early life environments predict the gut microbiome composition of adult women in Cebu, Philippines 9:10am - 9:17am Impact of prenatal heavy metals exposure and early-life neurodevelopment on gut microbiota composition at age 15: a cohort study in Terai region, Nepal 9:17am - 9:24am Rural Embodiment and Community Health Study: A multi-omics approach reveals the embodiment of environmental contaminant exposure through the gut microbiome in two low-resource U.S. communities 9:24am - 9:31am Pollutant exposures and endocrine disruption of the calcium–parathyroid hormone axis 9:31am - 9:38am Early life enacted stigma and its impacts on health among transgender and nonbinary adults 9:38am - 9:45am The hidden strain of resilience: Differences in cardiovascular function among transgender and nonbinary people reporting post-traumatic growth |
| 10:00am - 11:00am |
In Memoriam: Daniel C. Benyshek Location: Governer's Square 14 Welcome and Introduction 10:05am - 10:12am Invited Memorial Session: Daniel Benyshek 10:12am - 10:19am The Anthropology of Hope: Continuing the Work of Dan Benyshek 10:19am - 10:26am Toward a more humanist anthropology: reflections on our friend Dan Benyshek 10:26am - 10:33am Planting seeds of knowledge: Reflections on Daniel Benyshek’s work in maternal nutrition 10:33am - 10:40am Smackdowns, Obscene Sample Sizes, and Marie Kondo: Honoring Dan Benyshek 10:40am - 10:47am Enduring pedagogy: Daniel C. Benyshek’s legacy on the practice and teaching of medical anthropology 10:47am - 10:54am Dan Benyshek - some thoughts on humanism and science |
| 1:00pm - 2:30pm |
Podium B: Emerging Themes in Biocultural Anthropology Location: Governer's Square 14 Chair: Katherine Daiy Biocultural anthropology for the challenges of the 21st century: Building an engaged and applied future 1:07pm - 1:14pm Tracing the thematic evolution of the American Journal of Human Biology (1989–2025) using a mixed-methods approach that combined BERT, a large language model, with qualitative expert review 1:14pm - 1:21pm Exploring the biocultural approach in Canadian medical anthropology 1:21pm - 1:28pm CHEER (Creative Health Equity & Empowerment Resources): an innovative arts-based toolkit to improve health outcomes focused on ethnic minorities 1:28pm - 1:35pm Crystal ball or cracked lens? Comparing predictive sampling strategies across variable environments 1:35pm - 1:42pm Exploring Genetic Variation in the Bodh Tribe of North India: Evidence from SNP Markers and 1000 Genomes East Asian Data. 1:42pm - 1:49pm Pulmonary function, digit ratio, and facial shape in modern Yakuts of North-Eastern Siberia 1:49pm - 1:56pm Reindeer herders of northern Finland maintain higher surface temperatures over brown adipose tissue positive region relative to their indoor counterparts across seasons 1:56pm - 2:03pm Age-Related Changes in Tsimane Sleep 2:03pm - 2:10pm Hot flashes and night sweats in relation to sleep problems and daytime fatigue 2:10pm - 2:17pm Adult leg and trunk length predict epigenetic aging in a metropolitan Cebu, Philippines, birth cohort. Weight-based discrimination is associated with accelerated biological aging independent of body composition in a state representative sample of US adults |
| 2:45pm - 4:15pm |
Podium C: Ecology, Immunity, and Infectious Disease Location: Governer's Square 14 Inflammaging mediates testosterone declines in later life among men in the UK Biobank 2:52pm - 2:59pm Energetic trade-offs in pregnancy: associations between physical activity, body mass index, and c-reactive protein across trimesters 2:59pm - 3:06pm Poverty, stress, and milk immune competence in Michigan mothers 3:06pm - 3:13pm Sexual minority status predicts elevated inflammation in young adults from Cebu, Philippines 3:13pm - 3:20pm A Pilot Study of Depressive Symptoms and Reduced Glucocorticoid Sensitivity in Young Adult Men Living with and at Risk for HIV 3:20pm - 3:27pm Associations of social belonging, loneliness, and social safety with ex-vivo inflammatory regulation patterns among Dominican and Haitian adults in the Dominican Republic’s tourism sector 3:27pm - 3:34pm Investigating the role of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) access in parasitic infection and intestinal inflammation: pilot study among people experiencing homelessness in Oregon, USA 3:34pm - 3:41pm Hookworm parasitism shapes energy balance and cardiovascular disease risk in northeast Madagascar 3:41pm - 3:48pm Potential human-to-human transmission of a zoonotic poxvirus in northeast Madagascar 3:48pm - 3:55pm Prevalence of β-Thalassemia Trait among young adults in Delhi-NCR, India: screening challenges and genetic diversity 4:02pm - 4:09pm Patterning of the diurnal cortisol rhythm in a subsistence agriculturalist population, West Kiang, The Gambia |
| 5:00pm - 6:30pm |
Business Meeting Location: Governer's Square 14 |
| Date: Friday, 20/Mar/2026 | |
| 8:00am - 9:30am |
Podium D: Food Systems, Microbiomes, and Cardiometabolic Health Location: Governer's Square 14 Chair: Achsah Foster Dorsey Urbanization Does Not Always Mean Loss: Microbiome Diversity Patterns in the Turkana of Kenya 8:07am - 8:14am Intestinal microbiota change in households abandoning food production in Maya agriculturalists from the Yucatán Peninsula. 8:14am - 8:21am How complex dietary fibers can be used to shape the human gut microbiome toward reduced inflammatory potential 8:21am - 8:28am Food sharing is associated with higher food variety and dietary diversity in a multi-ethnic Indigenous peri-urban community in the Brazilian Amazon 8:28am - 8:35am Are evolutionary models linking economic insecurity and obesity supported in Minatitlán (Mexico)? Insights from a biocultural study conducted among food-insecure women 8:35am - 8:42am Two-Eyed Seeing: Indigenous ecological knowledge and cardiometabolic disease risk 8:42am - 8:49am Gender, wealth-type, place, and country-food policy: A multicountry analysis of obesity and hypertension 8:49am - 8:56am Obesity and its association with hypertension and dyslipidaemia in adults from Mansa district, Punjab: a population-based cross-sectional study 8:56am - 9:03am Role of One Carbon Metabolic Pathway Genes and Folate Status on Antihypertensive Drug Response among Rural Adults in Punjab, India 9:03am - 9:10am Demographic correlates of cardiovascular disease and inflammation among adults from southwest Illinois and the Mississippi Delta 9:10am - 9:17am Anthropometric and lipid Predictors of hypertension among adolescents in Delhi NCR. 9:17am - 9:24am Testing relationships between weight status, weight perception, and depression among US adolescents across varying epidemiological contexts: A biological normalcy approach using 2023 national YRBS data |
| 9:45am - 11:15am |
Podium E: Childcare, Nutrition, and Growth Location: Governer's Square 14 Chair: Jessica Hlay Parental investment theory and the concept of "on demand" breastfeeding 9:52am - 9:59am The effects of women’s work on breastfeeding outcomes and time allocation in Bangladeshi Shodagor fishing and trading communities 9:59am - 10:06am Maternal perceptions and infant temperament shape early feeding practices in low-income African American dyads 10:06am - 10:13am Do infant feeding practices in Bolivian Aymara communities vary with infant gender, expressed parental gender preference, and/or household economic strategy? 10:13am - 10:20am Head versus Length Growth: The Role of Infection and Nutrition among Breastfed Infants in Michigan 10:20am - 10:27am Household socioeconomic conditions and the infant gut microbiome across the first nine months of life in the urban Amazon 10:27am - 10:34am Paternal care behaviors associated with differential diversity and relative abundance of infant gut and skin microbiota 10:41am - 10:48am Household composition and children’s dietary and nutritional intake in a rural Darai village, Nepal 10:48am - 10:55am Intestinal energy loss among Indigenous Shuar children of Amazonian Ecuador: Insights into human energetics, life history, and health 10:55am - 11:02am Simulating the effects of health and nutrition interventions on human growth 11:02am - 11:09am Secular trends in physical fitness among Azorean primary school children 11:09am - 11:16am Evaluating the relationship between household factors and male pubertal development in Utila, Honduras |
| 11:30am - 1:00pm |
EAS Symposium: What the nexus of human biology and behavior can tell us about human evolution Location: Governer's Square 14 Chair: Siobhán M. Cully Chair: Karen L Kramer Introduction to EAS Session 11:34am - 11:41am Salivary testosterone predicts developmental variation in children’s play networks beyond age effects in Utila, Honduras 11:41am - 11:48am Associations between caregiver presence, child cortisol, and nutritional status among BaYaka foragers in the Republic of the Congo 11:48am - 11:55am Converging pathways of social factors and health: market integration (MI), kin support, and hypertension in small-scale society 11:55am - 12:05pm Coalitions matter for both men and women: insights from three subsistence communities in southwest Ethiopia 12:05pm - 12:12pm An evolutionary view on gendered kidney transplantation in Bangladesh 12:12pm - 12:22pm Charity begins at home: The importance of kinship and other biologically-relevant variables in cooperation research 12:22pm - 12:29pm Who deserves to be helped? Global perspectives on social welfare, generosity, and mutual aid 12:29pm - 12:41pm Traversing a fitness valley in the Pliocene: Dietary shifts and the impact of handling costs on hominin evolution 12:41pm - 12:53pm An automated geospatial urbanicity index for anthropological field sites 12:53pm - 1:00pm Adaptive variation in social exchange: embodied wealth and strategies of in investment in kin and cooperators |