Fabian Crespo
Biography
I received my PhD (Biology) from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and conducted my postdoctoral research in human immunology at the School of Medicine, University of Louisville, USA. After completing my postdoctoral work, I moved to the Department of Anthropology at the University of Louisville to continue studying how various forces have shaped inflammatory responses and overall immune competence in different human populations. I also explore how past epidemics and pandemics have reshaped the immunological and biosocial landscapes in human populations. My general approach to studying the heterogeneous immunological landscapes observed in past populations involves a multidisciplinary approach combining experimental immunology, bioarchaeology, and history. I am honored to conduct this multidisciplinary research agenda alongside colleagues and students from various universities in the United States, Spain, Argentina, Perú, and the United Kingdom.
Research Interests
See below a detailed description of my primary research projects, including collaborators and funding sources. I am currently accepting students (undergraduate and graduate) for most projects.
1. Bioarchaeology, osteoimmunology, and ecoimmunology: Linking inflammation, life history tradeoffs, and biocultural change on the North Coast of Peru, 900-1750 C.E.
Principal and Leading Investigators: Haagen Klaus (George Mason University)
Fabian Crespo (University of Louisville)
This project pursues a new synthesis between three emerging fields, bioarchaeology, osteoimmunology, and ecoimmunology when reconstructing inflammatory phenotypes in past populations. This project will generate a transdisciplinary vision of human health and disease in past populations, especially when exploring the entangled biocultural drivers of disease during the complex changes between pre-Hispanic and post-contact societies in the Andes. This project involves the collaboration of the Paleoproteomics Lab from University of York and local Museums in Lambayeque, Peru: Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipan, Museo Arqueológico Nacional Bruning, and Museo Nacional de Sican.
Funded by National Science Foundation: NSF#2316573 and Wenner Gren Foundation.
2. Reconstruction of host immunological status, host immune response (inflammatory phenotype (IP), and heterogeneity in frailty to acquired syphilis.
Principal and Leading Investigators: Molly Zuckerman (Mississippi State University)
Sharon DeWitte (University of Colorado)
Fabian Crespo (University of Louisville)
The ultimate goal of this exploratory proposal is to test the transformative integration of experimental osteoimmunology with bioarchaeology when trying to reconstruct systemic inflammatory phenotypes in humans exposed to long-lasting chronic infections that present different clinical stages, such as acquired syphilis, with the inclusion of bone markers associated with persistent infection/inflammation as a proxy for immune competence in humans.
Funded by National Science Foundation: NSF#1830154 and NSF#1946203
3. Reconstructing the immunocompetence of Medieval populations through 900 years of history from Catalunya, Spain.
Principal and Leading Investigators: Nuria Armentano (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Xavier Jordana (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Laura Castells Navarro (University of York)
Fabian Crespo (University of Louisville)
The aim of this project is the study of 3 bone markers, periodontitis, periostosis, and osteoarthritis to reconstruct systemic and chronic inflammatory profiles in different populations from 3 medieval populations from Catalunya, Spain: Castell de Besora; Cal Pa I Figues; and the churches of Sant Pere de Terrassa. These medieval populations exhibit a rich and unique local sequence of historical changes over nine centuries that will allow us to study whether different social and environmental factors that could generate early life stress are associated with changes in inflammatory profiles that could explain hidden heterogeneities associated with ill health or increased mortality risk. This project involves the collaboration of the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona- Masters in Biological Anthropology, Museu d' Arqueologia de Catalunya, and Museu de Terrassa-Seu d'Egara
4. Paleosyndemics: A Bioarchaeological and Biosocial Approach to Study Infectious Diseases in the Past.
Principal and Leading Investigators: Clark Spencer Larsen (Ohio State University)
Haagen Klaus (George Mason University)
Laura Castells Navarro (University of York)
Fabian Crespo (University of Louisville)
This project explores a theoretical and methodological approach to articulate different disciplines such as bioarchaeology, immunology, social anthropology, history, and public health to study the emergence, duration, and end of epidemics and endemic infectious diseases in past populations. We explore a wider context and study how multiple circumstances that undermined health, social equality, and community stability differentially affected the immune competence of individuals and ultimately played a crucial role in differential survival or mortality during past infectious diseases. This project emerged as part of the international and multidisciplinary consortium based at the University of Oxford: How Epidemics End
Degrees and Certifications
University of Buenos Aires