Herman Pontzer
Associate Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology and Global Health
Appointment:
Herman Pontzer
Associate Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology and Global Health
How did the human body evolve, and how does our species’ deep past shape our health and physiology today? Through lab and field research, Dr. Pontzer investigates the physiology of humans and other primates to understand how ecology, lifestyle, diet, and evolutionary history affect metabolism and health. He is particularly interested in cardiometabolic disease and the lifestyle factors that protect against obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and other noncommunicable diseases that are common among industrialized populations but rare or absent in non-industrialized societies.
Dr. Pontzer’s field projects seek to understand how diet, activity and other ecological factors influence the physiology and health of people in small-scale societies, including hunter-gatherers and subsistence farmers in east Africa and South America. Back at Duke, his lab research focuses on energetics and metabolism, including respirometry and doubly labeled water methods.
Publications
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Ocobock C, Soppela P, Turunen M, Stenbäck V, Herzig KH, Rimbach R, et al. Reindeer herders from subarctic Finland exhibit high total energy expenditure and low energy intake during the autumn herd roundup. In: American Journal of Human Biology. 2022.Ocobock C, Soppela P, Turunen M, Stenbäck V, Herzig K-H, Rimbach R, et al. Reindeer herders from subarctic Finland exhibit high total energy expenditure and low energy intake during the autumn herd roundup. American Journal of Human Biology : the Official Journal of the Human Biology Council. 2022 Apr;34(4):e23676.Rimbach R, Yamada Y, Sagayama H, Ainslie PN, Anderson LF, Anderson LJ, et al. Total energy expenditure is repeatable in adults but not associated with short-term changes in body composition. Nat Commun. 2022 Jan 10;13(1):99.Willis EA, Creasy SA, Saint-Maurice PF, Keadle SK, Pontzer H, Schoeller D, et al. Physical Activity and Total Daily Energy Expenditure in Older US Adults: Constrained versus Additive Models. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 2022 Jan;54(1):98–105.
See more publications at Scholars@Duke