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       ![Kuzawa group banner](/sites/g/files/omnuum13301/files/styles/hwp_21_9__1920x825/public/2026-09/Kuzawa%20Group%20Department%20of%20Human%20Evolutionary%20Biology%20Harvard%20University%20%283%29.png?itok=75avfA-W) 

 

 



 

 



 

##  Our Research 

*Our research spans developmental and intergenerational biology, brain energetics and evolution, epigenetics, health inequality, the biology of reproduction, the history and misuse of the race concept, and the psychobiology of social relationships.*

[*Learn more about our research here.* ](https://prod-kuzawagroup.drupalsites.harvard.edu/research)



 

##  Recent Publications 

 



  [### Fathers’ care in context: ‘facultative,’ flexible fathers respond to work demands and child age, but not to alloparental help, in Cebu, Philippines

 ](/sites/g/files/omnuum13301/files/2026-09/Rosenbaum%20et%20al%20EHB%202021.pdf) 

   ![screenshot of abstract](/sites/g/files/omnuum13301/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-09/Screenshot%202026-09-12%20224752_0.png?h=2983d240&itok=HhPuv8Vw) 

 



 

 

   [### The promise of great apes as model organisms for understanding the downstream consequences of early life experiences

 ](/sites/g/files/omnuum13301/files/2026-09/Rosenbaum%20and%20Kuzawa%20Neurosci%20Biobehav%20Rev%202023.pdf) 

   ![screenshot of abstract](/sites/g/files/omnuum13301/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-09/Screenshot%202026-09-12%20224453.png?h=d223bfd8&itok=7wVYivGh) 

 



 

 

   [### The Maternal Nutritional Buffering Model: an evolutionary framework for pregnancy nutritional intervention

 ](/sites/g/files/omnuum13301/files/2026-09/Thayer%20et%20al%20EMPH%202020.pdf) 

   ![screenshot of abstract](/sites/g/files/omnuum13301/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-09/Screenshot%202026-09-12%20224142.png?h=5530851c&itok=EtQOO-d3) 

 



 

 

   [### Beyond genetic race: biocultural insights into the causes of racial health disparities

 ](/sites/g/files/omnuum13301/files/2026-09/Kuzawa%20and%20Gravlee%202016.pdf) 

   ![screenshot of abstract](/sites/g/files/omnuum13301/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-09/Screenshot%202026-09-12%20223911.png?h=0eb63403&itok=vkBy3P9H) 

 



 

 

   [### Why do humans undergo an adiposity rebound? Exploring links with the energetic costs of brain development in childhood using MRI-based 4D measures of total cerebral blood flow

 ](/sites/g/files/omnuum13301/files/2026-09/Aronoff%20et%20al%20Int%20J%20Obesity%202022.pdf) 

   ![screenshot of abstract](/sites/g/files/omnuum13301/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-09/Screenshot%202026-09-12%20223631.png?h=1a721b02&itok=76kXaEv2) 

 



 

 

   [### Pregnancy is linked to faster epigenetic aging in young women

 ](/sites/g/files/omnuum13301/files/2026-09/Ryan%20et%20al%20PNAS%202024%20%281%29.pdf) 

   ![screenshot of abstract](/sites/g/files/omnuum13301/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-09/Screenshot%202026-09-12%20223418.png?h=604fbc2b&itok=pVUyWtIb) 

 



 

 

   [### Primate gut microbiota induce evolutionarily salient changes in mouse neurodevelopment

 ](/sites/g/files/omnuum13301/files/2026-09/Decasien%20et%20al%202026%20PNAS.pdf) 

   ![screenshot of abstract](/sites/g/files/omnuum13301/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-09/Screenshot%202026-09-12%20222452.png?h=8878974f&itok=y0JuwBXk) 

 



 

 

   [### A biosocial return to race? A cautionary view for the postgenomic era. 

 ](/sites/g/files/omnuum13301/files/2026-09/Meloni%20et%20al%20AJHB%202022.pdf) 

   ![Abstract for the paper](/sites/g/files/omnuum13301/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-09/Screenshot%202026-09-12%20222152.png?h=f4001c5a&itok=U84Vjvdn) 

 



 

 

  

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##  Watch Prof. Kuzawa's 2025 James Arthur Lecture at the American Museum of Natural History, “Food for Thought: How Our Energy-Hungry Brains Shaped the Evolution of Human Childhood.” 

He explores how the extraordinary energetic demands of the developing brain shape childhood growth, learning, and human evolution.



 

 



 [ Watch the talk here.  arrow\_circle\_right ](https://digitalcollections.amnh.org/archive/Food-for-Thought--How-Our-Energy-Hungry-Brains-Shaped-the-Evolution-of-Human-Childhood--94th-annual-James-Arthur-Lecture-on-the-Evolution-of-the-Human-Brain-2URM1THSYQHBG.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com)