Paula Tallman

Paula Tallman
Field Museum of Natural History · Science Action and Integrative Research Centers

Ph.D. Biological Anthropology

About

26
Publications
5,952
Reads
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462
Citations
Introduction
Dr. Tallman is a biocultural anthropologist who investigates the relationship between cultural changes, stress, and health in indigenous Amazonian communities. She has expertise in both social and biological methods including collecting dried blood spots for the measurement of metabolic, cardiovascular, and immune biomarkers. As a postdoctoral researcher she will continue to work in Awajún communities in the northern Peruvian Amazon and expand her focus to include the topic of wellbeing.
Additional affiliations
September 2009 - June 2015
Northwestern University
Position
  • PhD Student
January 2015 - March 2015
Northwestern University
Position
  • Research Assistant
Description
  • Section for Human Origins - Anthro-213
September 2014 - December 2014
Northwestern University
Position
  • Research Assistant
Description
  • Section for Paradigms and Strategies for Leadership
Education
September 2009 - June 2015
Northwestern University
Field of study
  • Biological Anthropology
August 2004 - June 2008
Johns Hopkins University
Field of study
  • Behavioral Biology

Publications

Publications (26)
Article
Objectives Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) —a gastric bacteria affecting almost 50% of the global population and leading to ulcers and cancer in severe cases—is a growing health concern among Indigenous populations who report a high burden of reported poor general health and gastrointestinal distress. We test hypothesized associations between H. py...
Article
Full-text available
Water insecurity, the inability to benefit from affordable, adequate, reliable and safe water, is one of the greatest contemporary threats facing humans. While ‘water insecurity’, as a concept, is globally recognized and serves an essential function in policymaking, it does not capture the multiple, relational connections between Indigenous peoples...
Article
We examined how study participants in Indonesia and Peru viewed the relationship between water insecurity and women's health via thematic analysis of interviews and focus groups. Participants reported that water insecurity led to vaginal infections, miscarriage, premature births, uterine prolapse, poor nutrition, restricted economic opportunities,...
Article
Full-text available
We reviewed the existing literature documenting the association between water insecurity and gender‐based violence to (1) describe the characteristics and contexts of available studies, and (2) identify and classify documented gender‐based violence across domains of water insecurity (access, affordability, adequacy, reliability, and safety). 18 pee...
Article
Objectives: This study examines the associations between water insecurity, self-reported physical health, and objective measures of biological health among 225 Awajún adults (107 women; 118 men) living in the Peruvian Amazon, a "water-abundant" region. Methods: A survey, which included multiple measures of self-reported physical health, and obje...
Article
Full-text available
El cambio climático es atribuido directa o indirectamente a la actividad humana y se considera como la mayor amenaza a la salud pública del siglo XXI. Tiene impactos sobre el acceso al agua, la alimentación, en la agricultura y medios de vida, y en la salud de las personas. El objetivo de este texto es evaluar las percepciones del cambio climático...
Article
Full-text available
Objectives: Public health interventions can be improved by understanding peoples’ explanatory models of disease. We explore awareness and perceptions of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and options for preventative actions in young adults living in rural Andean communities. Methods: We used convenience sampling to select 46 men and women from communit...
Preprint
Full-text available
Objectives: Public health interventions can be improved by understanding peoples' explanatory models of disease. We explore awareness and perceptions of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and options for preventive actions in young rural adults highlanders. Methods: 46 men and women from communities in Cajamarca, Peru were purposively selected to partic...
Article
Undernutrition and overnutrition are interconnected. Yet few studies have examined the "double burden of malnutrition" (DBM) over time in indigenous communities. We investigated changes in the food systems and nutritional health of Awajún communities in the Peruvian Amazon in the 1970s and in 2013. Methods included ethnography, 24 hr food recalls,...
Article
Full-text available
Background Dietary changes, especially declines in traditional food diversity and increases in the consumption of processed foods, have previously been shown to increase the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. Aim We evaluated the prevalence and risk factors for metabolic syndrome in four Awajún communities in the Peruvian Amazon. Subject...
Article
Full-text available
Ecosyndemics refer to disease interactions that result from environmental changes commonly caused by humans. In this paper, we push scholarship on ecosyndemics into new territory by using the ecosyndemic framework to compare two case studies—the Southern Interoceanic highway in Peru and the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in Brazil—to assess the likel...
Article
Full-text available
There is a growing need to facilitate the interdisciplinary study of the relationship between the environment and human health and well-being. It is increasingly recognized that vulnerability is a key construct allowing discipline-specific research questions on these topics to be meaningfully contextualized. However, there is little consensus regar...
Article
Despite the abundance of water in the Amazon rainforest, people living in Awajún communities in northern Peru express concern over their water security. In this article, I employ a critical biocultural approach to examine how shifts from subsistence to market‐based livelihoods have created threats to water security that can “get under the skin” to...
Article
Full-text available
This article examines the relationship between cultural changes, socioeconomic status (SES), and psychobiological health outcomes among the Awajún, an indigenous group living in the Peruvian Amazon. Specifically, it documents how historically important markers of status for the Awajún, such as spiritual visions and war-time success, were replaced b...
Article
Full-text available
The global environmental conservation community recognizes that the participation of local communities is essential for the success of conservation initiatives; however, much work remains to be done on how to integrate conservation and human wellbeing. We propose that an assets-based approach to environmental conservation and human well-being, whic...
Article
Full-text available
C-reactive protein (CRP) is a central component of innate immune defenses, and high sensitivity CRP has emerged as an important biomarker of chronic inflammation and cardiovascular disease risk. Prior analyses of CRP variability have reported stable between-individual differences in CRP over time, but a limitation of current knowledge is that it is...
Article
Full-text available
Infancy represents a window of development during which long-term immunological functioning can be influenced. In this study, we evaluate proxies of microbial exposures in infancy as predictors of interleukin-4 (IL-4) in young adulthood. IL-4 is an immunoregulatory cytokine that plays a role in the pathogenesis of atopic and allergic diseases. Data...
Article
Full-text available
Although maternal infection and inflammation during pregnancy can adversely affect offspring birth weight (BW), whether low grade inflammation in the non-pregnant state predicts BW is unknown. To evaluate relationships between offspring BW and pro- and anti-inflammatory factors measured in parous but non-pregnant women. Data come from 234 parous Fi...
Article
Full-text available
Inflammation is a central part of innate immunity, but its role in anti-pathogen defenses has been overshadowed by recent interest in the contribution of inflammation to a wide range of chronic degenerative diseases. Current research on chronic inflammation is conducted primarily in affluent populations with low levels of infectious disease; compar...

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