ABSTRACT

Biological anthropologists rely on skeletal data to understand how biology and culture have interacted in past human populations, especially when historical records are biased, limited, or entirely absent. In this project, the investigators will examine how chronic stress, age, health conditions, and immune status relate to the trajectory and severity of syphilis in a number of documented skeletal samples. The project will advance knowledge about factors that influence vulnerability to disease in the past, as well as the role of health and disease in shaping the human experience. The research findings may also inform clinical guidelines for the screening and diagnosis of modern cases of syphilis to more accurately identify host characteristics that are likely associated with persistent infection. In conjunction with the project, K-12 and public science outreach and education activities will be conducted by the research team in Kentucky, South Carolina, and Mississippi. The project will also enhance public and K-12 science education infrastructure through the creation of two permanent exhibits in the public Archaeology Museum of the Cobb Institute of Archaeology, Mississippi State University. As the museum has thousands of public and K-12 visitors each year, the exhibits will support efforts to broaden access to and participation in STEM fields. This project is jointly funded by the Biological Anthropology and Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) programs.

In this project, the research team will investigate human host characteristics that are associated with the resolution of syphilis infection after the early stage of the disease (primary, secondary) and those that are associated with persistence into late stage (tertiary) infection, which causes destructive and debilitating symptoms and is sometimes fatal. The investigators will combine data for over 300 skeletons in U.S. museum collections representing individuals who were diagnosed with syphilis prior to their deaths to: 1) determine whether chronic stress, nutritional status, age, and co-morbid disease conditions are associated with persistent syphilis; 2) examine whether excessive inflammation (hyper-inflammatory response/phenotype (HIP)) against other disease causing agents, specifically those which cause periodontal disease, is associated with late stage syphilis; and 3) develop a multi-stage interpretive model for bioarchaeological studies of syphilis that would enable the reconstruction of a human host?s immune status during early-stage infection, as well as their inflammatory response during late-stage infection.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

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