An Unnatural History of Emerging Infections

Ron Barrett is an Associate Professor of Medical Anthropology at Macalester College. His research concerns the social aspects of infectious diseases, with an ethnographic focus on northern and western India. His work on the biosocial aspects of leprosy and other socially stigmatized diseases can be found in, Aghor Medicine: Pollution, Death, ad Healing in Northern India (University of California Press), which was recently awarded the Wellcome Medal for Medical Anthropology by the Royal Anthropological Institute. His currently the primary investigator for an NSF-sponsored research on the relationship between social support networks and health-seeking for influenza-like illnesses in a western Indian slum community. Professor Barrett is co-editor of a textbook reader, Understanding and Applying Medical Anthropology (McGraw Hill). He is also a registered nurse with clinical experience in hospice, neuro-intensive care, and brain injury rehabilitation. George J. Armelagos is Goodrich C. White Professor of Anthropology at Emory University. His research interests have concerned the paleopathology and evolution of diet and disease in prehistoric human populations. His research has involved the osteological and pathological analysis of mummified and skeletal populations from North Africa and North America, tracing health changes associated with the Neolithic transition to sedentism and agriculture. He has also published osteopathic and phylogenetic evidence in support of the New World origin of syphilis. Professor Armelagos is the former president of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists (AAPA). He is a recipient of the Franz Boas Award (American Anthropological Association), the Charles Darwin Award (AAPA), and the Viking Medal (Wenner Gren Foundation).