Student prizes for genetics presentations at AAPA

The president of the American Association of Anthropological Genetics, Dr. Lorena Havill, announces the 2011 Outstanding Student Presentation Awards for best presentation on genetics research:

APPLICATION IS EASY!!! DEADLINE IS FRIDAY, April 8, 2011.

Each award involves a $200 cash prize and a one year subscription to the journal, Human Biology. Students can apply directly OR be nominated by a AAAG member.
To apply for the award, please e-mail me at LHAVILL@sfbrgenetics.org with:
a) your name
b) your institutional affiliation
c) the title of the student's presentation
d) the abstract
e) the day, time, and meeting (HBA or AAPA) of the presentation (either poster or podium)

To be eligible, the student*** must be the first author, and must deliver the presentation (poster or podium) at the HBA or AAPA meeting.

AAAG basic membership rates (payable at http://www.anthgen.org/aaag_membership.html:

Full member without journal subscription $20
Student member without journal subscription $10

*** Either the student OR the nominating AAAG member must be a member in good standing (dues paid) by the April 8 submission deadline in order to be considered for the awards.***

Opportunity for future PhD student

This fantastic opportunity just in from Pablo Nepomnaschy. I'm thinking maybe I need to get another PhD....

We are seeking to recruit a graduate student interested in pursuing a PhD on the early development of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (“stress”) axis.

Project description: The stress axis plays a critical role in determining an individual’s ability to cope with challenges throughout the lifetime. However, the extent to which stress axis function is ‘calibrated’ by prenatal stress at different gestational stages is unclear. This project involves the use of a unique longitudinal data set to explore the impact of stress experienced during the first six weeks of gestation on post-natal stress response in later life.

Qualifications: We are seeking an individual with:

• Excellent academic record
• Background in evolutionary biology, physiology, genetics and/or epigenetics
• An evident commitment and passion for science

Start : ideally, September 2011

We offer: annual stipend, research funds, training at the interface of evolutionary biology with physiology, development, genetics and epigenetics, innovative intellectual environment

Institution and location: Human Evolutionary Studies Program, Faculty of Health Sciences and Dept. of Biology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada.

PIs: Dr. Pablo A. Nepomnaschy and Dr. Bernard Crespi

Required materials: Please send a letter of intent and a CV to Dr. Katrina Salvante at kgsalvan@sfu.ca

Genetic Past and Genomic Future: lecture series at UNCG

Many thanks to Dr. Carlina DeLaCova of the University of North Carolina Greensboro for letting me know about the exciting 2010-2011 Harriet Elliott Lecture Series taking place this week at UNCG. John Hawks will be delivering the keynote address.

Dear Colleagues and Community,


As hosts of the 2010-2011 Harriet Elliott Lecture Series, the Department of Anthropology at UNCG is pleased to announce the upcoming keynote address and panel discussion on the theme, “Our Genetic Past and Genomic Future: Connecting the Science of Human Origins to Contemporary Life.” This year’s events will be held on Wednesday, March 23, 2011.

In preparation for the event, we would like to invite you to visit the event’s blog: http://harrietelliottuncg.wordpress.com/. The blog will provide an opportunity to engage with the events’ themes, generate questions to be posed to our panelists and keynote speaker, and archive interesting news pieces related to the theme.

Please find below our participant’s bios and a summary of the day’s events. For more information, visit: http://www.uncg.edu/aas/lectureseries/

Panel Discussion (3-5 pm in the EUC Auditorium)
The panel will focus on the intersection between the scientific study of human origins, evolution, and variability and its everyday applications--that is, how it affects people’s lives in terms of biomedical practice, conceptions of difference and risk, and social identity. Moderated by Dr. Cheryl Logan (UNCG History and Psychology), the panel will bring together three distinguished scholars:

Lee Baker (Duke University) - Dean of Academic Affairs, Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, and Professor of Cultural Anthropology and African and African American Studies. Dr. Baker is the author of From Savage to Negro: Anthropology and the Construction of Race, 1896-1954 (University of California Press, 1998), Anthropology and the Racial Politics of Culture (Duke University Press, 2010), and editor of Life In America: Identity and Everyday Experience (Blackwell Publishing, 2003).

Alondra Nelson (Columbia University) - Associate Professor of Sociology. Dr. Nelson holds an appointment at Columbia’s Institute for Research on Women and Gender and is the author of Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party's Politics of Health and Race (University of Minnesota Press, 2011) and co-editor of Genetics and the Unsettled Past: The Collision of Race, DNA and History (Rutgers University Press, 2011).

Fatimah Jackson (UNC Chapel Hill) Professor of Biological Anthropology and Director of the Institute of African-American Research. Dr. Jackson’s research has focused human metabolic and genomic effects of exposure to plant allelochemicals, genomic models of biological diversity in contemporary and historic African peoples, and bioanthropological perspectives on human disease (especially infectious diseases). In 2000, she cofounded the first human DNA bank on the African continent.


Harriet Elliott Keynote Address (7-9 pm in the Meade Auditorium, 101 Sullivan)
“Neandertime: Deciphering the Secrets of Ancient Genomes”
Following the panel discussion, the invited talk will address current debates within the field of anthropology around the topic of human genetic evolution.

John Hawks (University of Wisconsin Madison) - Associate Professor of Anthropology. He is well known within the field of biological anthropology for his public engagement with current topics of research, including his own blog (http://johnhawks.net/weblog).

Please note that in between the panel discussion and featured talk there will be a reception held from 5-6:30 pm in the Kirkland Room of the EUC.

For a map of UNCG’s campus, which includes the parking garages for both events, please see: http://www.uncg.edu/online_map/.

We look forward to the exciting debates this year’s lecture series will foster and hope that you will join us in the on-going discussions. Finally, we are attaching a PDF of the poster announcing the events.


Thank you very much.

Sincerely,


Carlina de la Cova

Assistant Professor
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Anthropology Department

Postdoc in anthro/demography/evo biology

Just got word about a great postdoc opportunity at Durham University (UK):

This position will form the first part of a team working on 'Family matters: Intergenerational influences on fertility', an interdisciplinary research project funded by a European Research Council Starting Grant to Dr Rebecca Sear, combining evolutionary biology, anthropology and demography.

The appointment will begin this project by using existing large-scale demographic surveys to investigate the impact of kin on fertility outcomes in the developing world. The object of this post is to undertake statistical analysis of these large-scale datasets to determine correlations between kin availability and fertility outcomes at the individual level; and at the population level to determine whether kin influence varies systematically between populations according to factors such as economic development, marriage and residence patterns, and levels of mortality or fertility. The post holder will work closely with two additional team members who will be appointed over the year subsequent to this appointment.

The post would suit candidates interested in interdisciplinary work, who are trained in evolutionary biology, evolutionary anthropology, or in a quantitative social science.

AAA Ethics Task Force Blog

The AAA has been working hard over the last several years to update its ethics position. In an exciting move toward transparency, the AAA membership is being asked to give feedback on the process thus far. I am passing along a message from Katie MacKinnon:

The AAA’s Task Force for Comprehensive Ethics Review is in the process of reviewing and revising our code of ethics, and we are soliciting the help of the members in this process.

Thus far, five principles have been posted to the Ethics Task Force blog.

I would like to ask that you please circulate this info with your blog readership (and/or other anthropology colleagues who might be interested), and suggest that folks send any comments/thoughts back to the task force, preferably as entries on the blog. We would like a wide readership to generate a useful discussion on these topics, and we will re-send the entire list when all principles have been posted.

We look forward to hearing from you!


Best,

Katie MacKinnon
Member, Task Force for Comprehensive Ethics Review

Posted principles (from the blog):
•Informed consent is a dynamic, continuous and reflective process
•Balance the responsibility to disseminate with its potential consequence
•Be open and honest regarding your work. Make your results accessible
•Balance competing ethical obligations due collaborators and affected parties
•Do no harm

Northwestern Summer Biomarker Institute

New to biomarker research? Need a refresher? Northwestern University offers an accessible three day workshop on incorporating biomarker research into survey research. This is largely introductory with an emphasis on biocultural applications to human survey and population studies, so those researchers with little to no experience in biomarkers or lab science more generally will benefit the most.

C2S Summer Biomarker Institute
June 6-8, 2011

Application Deadline: April 1, 2011

Cells to Society (C2S): The Center on Social Disparities and Health invites applications for the 6th annual three-day summer institute on the Evanston campus of Northwestern University, June 6-8, 2011.

About the Institute

Interest in incorporating biomarkers into survey research is currently high, but disciplinary training is such that few investigators possess the necessary dual expertise in the social and biomedical sciences.

The institute is designed to provide a hands-on introduction to state-of-the-art methods for integrating biomarkers into population-based, social science research, covering technical as well as conceptual issues associated with biological measurement in naturalistic settings.

Thomas McDade (Anthropology), Emma Adam (Human Development and Social Policy), and Christopher Kuzawa (Anthropology) direct the workshop. Presentations by additional researchers with extensive biomarker experience will also be featured.

By the end of the institute, participants should have the tools necessary to make informed decisions about the appropriateness of specific biomarkers for their research agenda, to communicate effectively with potential collaborators about biomarker issues, and to engage in innovative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries.

Course Content

The institute will walk participants through the entire process of data acquisition, from the collection of samples to the generation of results in the lab.

Material will be covered in seminar and laboratory settings through a combination of presentations, discussion, and hands-on exercises.

Specific topics will include:
Biology/environment interplay: Theoretical perspectives
Rationale for biomarkers
Procedures for sample collection, transport, and storage
Options for the analysis of saliva and capillary whole blood
Laboratory analysis of biological samples
Anthropometry
Analytic models for incorporating biomarkers
Current applications
IRB and ethical considerations
Strategies for effective collaboration
Applying

Participation is limited, with preference given to individuals who have received their PhD or MD since 2006. Participants from groups historically underrepresented in population health research are especially encouraged to apply.

Following confirmation of participation, a $400 registration fee will be required by June 1. It will cover all materials, coffee breaks, and lunches during the institute, plus one group dinner. Participants are responsible for covering their travel and lodging expenses.

Applications to the institute should be submitted electronically. To apply, send the following:
1) Curriculum vitae (including contact information)
2) A brief statement (two pages or less) discussing your research interests and how participation in the summer biomarker institute will advance those interests.

E-mail all materials as attachments to:
Patricia Lasley, Administrator: p-lasley@northwestern.edu

Application deadline: April 1, 2011. All applicants will be notified by April 15.

Questions?

Visit our website for more information at http://www.northwestern.edu/ipr/c2s/ or e-mail us at c2s@northwestern.edu

Fieldwork opportunity!

Dr. Martin Kowalewski is advertising for a motivated and qualified field assistant to work in Argentina on the following project: "Reproductive strategies in female black and gold howler monkeys (Alouatta caraya) in northeastern Argentina"

This is an exciting and generous opportunity. Not only will travel, food, and accommodations be covered, but the field assistant will also "have the opportunity of conducting an undergraduate or master thesis associated with the project if they fit our research centre´s expectations."