Our research has resulted in educational outcomes, grant submissions (and some success!), published papers, and stronger partnerships in Madagascar.

Educational Outcomes:  

We have guided hands-on, team-based research projects for undergraduates, graduate students and postdocs.  Thus far, our previous Bass Teams have resulted in seven undergraduate honors theses, two Masters theses, and authorship for six trainees on scientific publications.  Multiple undergraduate honors theses (7) and graduate Masters theses (2) are in preparation.

 

Grants:

Our teams have collected crucial preliminary data that have been used for multiple grant applications, including two that have been supported!   These two grants are based on our initial work:

  • Duke University Provost’s Collaboratory, “Identifying Infectious Disease Transmission Pathways for Improved Population Health and Pandemic Preparedness” ($228,206).
  • NIH RO1 in Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Disease multi-agency program, “The Impact of Land Use Change on Transmission Potential Networks and Disease Spread in Rural Madagascar” ($2,496,912).

 

Published Papers:

The following papers have emerged from the research in Madagascar, either directly or indirectly (trainees indicated in bold):

  • Kramer, R., and C. L. Nunn (2020). Agricultural Activity and Household Characteristics in the SAVA Region of Madagascar. Available upon request.
  • Kramer, R., and C. L. Nunn (2019). 2019 Health Report: Manatenina and Matsobe. Available upon request.
  • Manus, M. B. (2018). Evolutionary mismatch. Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health 2018(1): 190-191.
  • Samson, D. R., A. N. Crittenden, I. A. Mabulla, A. Z. P. Mabulla and C. L. Nunn (2018).  Does the moon influence sleep in small-scale societies? Sleep Health 4: 509-514.
  • Yu, J. J., M. B. Manus, O. Mueller, S. C. Windsor, J. E. Horvath and C. L. Nunn (2018). “Antibacterial soap use impacts skin microbial communities in rural Madagascar.” PLOS ONE 13(8): e0199899.
  • Manus, M.B., G. S. Bloomfield, L. Guidera, A. Sobel and C. L. Nunn (2018). High prevalence of hypertension in an agricultural village in Madagascar. PLoS ONE 13: e0201616.
  • Samson, D. R., M. B. Manus, A. D. Krystal, E. Fakir, J. J. Yu and C. L. Nunn (2017). Segmented sleep in a nonelectric, small‐scale agricultural society in Madagascar.  American Journal of Human Biology e22979.
  • Litzow, E., L. K. Greene, L. Guidera, T. Klug. (2017). Cooking Practices, Human Health, and the Environment: The Case of Mandena, Madagascar. Energy & Development (Global Energy Access Network Case Studies, Vol. 1).
  • Manus, M. B., J. J. Yu, L. P. Park, O. Mueller, S. C. Windsor, J. E. Horvath and C. L. Nunn (2017). Environmental influences on the skin microbiome of humans and cattle in rural Madagascar. Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health 2017: 144-153..
  • Samson, D. R., G. M. Yetish, A. N. Crittenden, I. A. Mabulla, A. Z. Mabulla and C. L. Nunn (2016). What is segmented sleep? Actigraphy field validation for daytime sleep and nighttime wake. Sleep Health: Journal of the National Sleep Foundation 2: 341-347.

Partnerships in Madagascar:

We have enriched our relationship to Vahatra in Madagascar.  They coordinate and lead our small mammal trapping and permits, and are rich partners in all of our research.  Through Vahatra we are training one Malagasy Ph.D. student, one Masters student, and one postdoc.  In addition, we have formed collaborations with social scientists at the University of Antananarivo, veterinarians, and local health authorities in the SAVA region.