The primary research area of CIAS is the study of the determinants of human health, disease and well-being both in past and living societies from a biocultural perspective, with strong emphasis on cultural, historical, societal, familial and politico-economic circumstances and on the understanding of our evolutionary background.
Our research projects cover important topics such as:
- The study of human developmental origins of health and disease
- The evaluation of prevalence of obesity in child and adolescents in relation to sedentary behaviors (TV watching, internet use) and to patterns of physical activity
- The examination of social inequalities in growth and health
- Assess trends in child oral health inequalities
- To characterize genetic variation among individuals and populations
- Understand why do genetic diseases vary in their incidence between populations
- Understand the effects of past genetic diseases on modern patterns of genetic variation
- Compare Mesolithic and contemporary populations to reveal individual life histories and reconstruct past demography
- Explore the relevance of skeletal remains for the study of human conditions and behavior
- Develop criteria for diagnosis of sex, age and pathology (mainly infectious and neoplastic diseases, stress and dietary behavior) using skeletal analysis.