IPR Postdoctoral Fellow
PhD, Anthropology, Yale University, 2018
Contact: amelia.sancilio@northwestern.edu
Amelia Sancilio is a biological anthropologist who employs evolutionary and biosocial perspectives to investigate sources of variation in human health. To conduct this research, she develops and utilizes laboratory methods to measure biomarkers of health, with the aim of illuminating the mechanisms that link people’s experiences over the course of their lives to their physiological outcomes.
Her current research focuses on elucidating variation in vulnerability and risk of COVID-19 infection, working with IPR biological anthropologist Thomas McDade. This work includes the development of assay protocols for measuring SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in dried blood spot samples in the Laboratory for Human Biology Research, as described here. This research draws on a biosocial framework, combining laboratory analysis with community-based data collection, to highlight the contextual, interpersonal, and individual factors that contribute to variation in exposure and seropositivity. She also continues work on research questions related to her dissertation on biomarkers of aging and women’s reproductive effort.