In her work at Harvard University, B studies a diverse range of animals to better understand human health challenges, including heart failure, seizures, dementia, infertility, anxiety and eating disorders.
B. Natterson-Horowitz's fascinating work at Harvard University and UCLA uses insight from the natural world to find new ways of approaching human health and development.
Studying a diverse range of animals in natural settings, B has uncovered adaptations with relevance to heart failure, sudden cardiac death, seizures, dementia, movement disorders, infertility and psychiatric conditions including anxiety, compulsive and eating disorders.
B's most recent research focuses on species-wide patterns in development across critical transitional periods of life including the transition from adolescence to adulthood.
Some of mankind's most enduring questions are about who we are as individuals, how we can live successfully alongside others, and the tension between the two. What can we learn about identity and group dynamics from our furry, feathered and scaly friends?
It can take decades for the human body to display symptoms of exposure to health hazards in our environment, but in the animal world, strange health trends can become apparent much more quickly. Could this alarm bell help us react faster to toxic threats?
The world of dating, sex and childbirth is a hazardous one, full of complex behaviours and even threats to our health. Well, mating in the animal kingdom is just as complex. What can we learn about "the birds and the bees" by looking at our animal cousins?
How we eat and the impact it has on our bodies, from weight loss and weight gain to eating disorders, is complex and a key facet of human health. But most of these behaviours and conditions aren't unique to our species. What can the animal world teach us?
Humans aren't unique in having an adolescent stage, but we are pretty unique in how we react to it. Why do other species find it easier to surf the trials and turmoils of this challenging life phase than we do?