Profile

Melissa conducts fieldwork in Ecuador with The Shuar Health and Life History Project to examine evolutionary adaptations and health patterns from a biocultural perspective. Her research focuses on behavioral endocrinology, with a specific interest in the psychosocial stress response of children. She is interested in how stress influences children’s physiological and psychological health, as well as their behavioral and emotional development. Her current research also examines how economic and cultural changes associated with market integration affect cardiovascular and immune health.