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Cristina Gildee

Biography

Cristina is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Washington. Her research centers on the intersections between hominin biomechanics, bone biology, and human reproduction. She is particularly interested in expanding the knowledge base we use to understand human reproduction and its impact on osteological health and aging. Much of the existing research is based on samples with homogeneous demographics and phenotypes, limiting its applicability to humans and the study of our evolutionary history. Her work is supported by the Biological Mechanisms of Healthy Aging Training Grant (NIH/NIA T32 AG066574) and the UW Medicine Department of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Jerome H. Debs II Endowed Chair in Orthopaedic Traumatology. She has previously presented on topics with applications for rehabilitation medicine, biomarker validation, biomechanics, and energetics research.

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Education

Present - Ph.D. Candidate, Biological Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Degree expected June, 2025

2021 - M.A. Biological Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

2019 - B.S. Human Evolutionary Biology; Medical Anthropology and Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Research Interests

Human biological diversity; Costs of reproduction; Biology of women; Functional morphology and comparative anatomy; Biomechanics of bipedal locomotion; Orthopaedics; Hormones and behavior; Osteoimmunology

Affiliations

Primate Evolutionary Biomechanics Laboratory (PEBL)

Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology (CSDE) Biodemography Laboratory

Biological Mechanisms of Healthy Aging Program (BMHA) NIH/NIA T32 Grant Predoctoral Trainee

The Sausage of Science Podcast for the Human Biology Association - Co-producer 

Human Biology of Stress and Sports Research Team

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