Podcasts

SoS logo, designed by Lux Lynn.

Current temporary cohost (while Cara is on sabbatical): Dr. Mallika Sarma

Current producers: Cristina Gildee and Dr. Eric Griffith

Past producers: Caroline Owens, Dr. Theresa Gildner, Dr. Alex Niclou, Delaney Glass

Webmaster: Dr. Andrea Silva-Caballero

Learn more about the SoS Team

Dr. Cara Ocobock is the director of the Human Energetics Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame where she is also an assistant professor of anthropology. Her research program integrates human biology and anthropology, with a focus on the interaction between anatomy, physiology, evolution, and the environment. She explores the physiological and behavioral mechanisms necessary to cope with and adapt to extreme climate and physical activity. She is an Editorial Board member of the American Journal of Human Biology in charge of PR (with Chris), and strongly advocates for quality science communication and outreach. Find out more about Cara’s work at her website.

Dr. Christopher Lynn is currently Chair of the Public Relations Committee for the Human Biological Association and Editorial Board member of the American Journal of Human Biology in charge of PR (with Cara). He is also Professor of Anthropology at the University of Alabama, where he specializes in biocultural medical anthropology, cultural impacts on health, and public engagement with science. He is author of Transcendental Medication: The Evolution of Mind, Culture, and Healing (Routledge 2022) and co-editor of Evolution Education in the American South: Culture, Politics, and Resources in and around Alabama (Palgrave Macmillan 2017). In addition to the Sausage of Science, Lynn is executive producer and co-host of the Inking of Immunity Podcast. Find out more about Chris’ research, public engagement, and teaching at https://cdlynn.people.ua.edu/.

Dr. Mallika Sarma is a Translational Research Institute for Space Health Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Human Spaceflight Lab at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Her research examines bio-behavioral adaptations to extreme environments, emphasizing the stress response system and effects on connected physiological and behavioral systems with applications to clinical settings and the spaceflight environment. She finished her Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of Notre Dame. Learn more about Mallika’s work at her website.

Cristina Gildee is a Ph.D. Student in Biological Anthropology at the University of Washington. Her research explores the cost of reproduction and its impacts on aging, biomechanics, and bone health. She is particularly interested in the intersection between health disparities, maternal health, and osteoimmunology.

Dr. Eric Griffith received his Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, as well as an MA in psychology from Boston University. He completed his dissertation fieldwork in central Mexico, focusing on the experiences of familial caregivers for people living with Alzheimer’s disease. Eric’s research interests include biocultural anthropology, dementia, cognitive aging, health disparities, and mixed methods research. Eric is currently a postdoctoral fellow with the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University; he is assigned to the NIH-funded project “The influence of religion/spirituality on Alzheimer’s Disease and its related dementias (ADRD) for African Americans.”

Dr. Andrea Silva-Caballero is a Wenner-Gren Hunt Postdoctoral Fellow based in the Anthropological Research Institute at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and a member of the Durham Infancy & Sleep Center. Andrea holds an MSc in Evolutionary Medicine awarded by the University of Durham, UK, where she also completed her Ph.D. in Biological anthropology. Her research reexamines the idea that the modern lifestyle is detrimental to human sleep health by examining and comparing adolescents’ sleep patterns in two rural sites and one urban site in Mexico. She is currently working on publishing the results of her exciting work.