Melissa Manus
Assistant Professor, Anthropology
Contact
- Melissa.Manus@utsa.edu
- Melissa.Manus@utsa.edu
- Personal Website
Bio
My research applies ecological and evolutionary perspectives to explore how early life environments influence human health by shaping the development of the microbiome. During infancy, the microbiome is sensitive to factors in the physical, social, and nutritional environments. Since the developing microbiome trains the immune system and promotes infant growth, it represents a pathway through which early life environments are embodied to impact health. I explore these connections to answer questions about human evolution and to address contemporary issues in global health. To date, my work has explored these dynamics across different geographic and cultural contexts in Madagascar, Mexico, the United States, Pakistan, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, and the Philippines. As strong proponents of making microbiome science more accessible to anthropologists and human biologists, my collaborators and I develop "field-friendly" methods for microbiome sample collection as well as resources for analyzing and visualizing microbiome data. Through this work, we combine perspectives and tools from anthropology, community ecology, evolutionary medicine, and bioinformatics.
Research Interests
- Early life environments
- Social interactions
- Microbiome
- Human biology
- Evolutionary medicine
- Global health
Degrees
- PhD in Anthropology, Northwestern University (2022)
- MSc in Global Health, Duke University (2016)
- BS in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University (2013)
Publications
Manus MB, Lucore JM, Kuthyar S, Moy M, Savo Sardaro ML, Amato KR. A biological anthropologist’s guide to applying microbiome science to studies of human and non-human primates. (In review)
Manus MB, Savo Sardaro ML, Dada O, Davis MI, Romoff MR, Torello SG, Ubadigbo E, Wu RC, Miller ES, Amato KR. Interactions with alloparents are associated with the diversity of infant skin and fecal bacterial communities in Chicago, U.S.A. American Journal of Human Biology: e23972. http://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23972
Manus MB, Watson E, Kuthyar S, Carba D, Belarmino NK, McDade TW, Kuzawa CW, Amato KR. Prenatal household size and composition is associated with infant gut microbial diversity in Cebu, Philippines. American Journal of Biological Anthropology: 1-14.
Manus MB. Ecological processes and human behavior provide a framework for studying the skin microbial metacommunity. Microbial Ecology 84(3):1-14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-021-01884-8
Manus MB, Kuthyar S, Perroni-Marañón AG, Núñez-de la Mora A, Amato KR. Comparing collection and storage methods for skin microbiome research in a field setting. American Journal of Human Biology: e23584. http://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23584
