Sabrina Agarwal, Associate Professor

Anthropology, Biological Anthropology, Skeletal Biology Lab

Bioarchaeology, biological and evolutionary anthropology, osteology and osteoporosis, health and disease, paleopathology.

Profile

I received my B.A. and M.Sc from the University of Toronto, and Ph.D in 2001 from the same institution, working in both the Department of Anthropology and the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto. I enjoyed the following two years as a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Anthropology at McMaster University, and subsequently was a faculty member for one year at the University of Toronto before coming to UC Berkeley.

My research interests are focused broadly upon the age and sex-related changes in bone quantity and quality, and I am particularly interested in the application of biocultural and evolutionary approaches to the study of bone fragility. My work has examined age-related changes in cortical bone microstructure, trabecular architecture, and mineral density in several British archaeological populations, and I am currently examining the long-term effect of parity and lactation on the human and non-human primate maternal skeleton.

Skeletal Biology Related Websites/Associations:

The American Association of Physical Anthropologists: official website with and online newsletter.
The Paleopathology Association
The Canadian Association for Physical Anthropology: official website with great links to Canadian programs and resources, including field school opportunities.

Representative Publications

2004. Agarwal, S.C., M. Dimitriu, and M.D. Grynpas. Medieval Trabecular Bone Architecture: The Influence of Age, Sex and Lifestyle. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 124(1):33-44.

2003. Agarwal, S.C., and Stout, S.D. Bone Loss and Osteoporosis: An Anthropological Perspective. Edited Volume. Kluwer Plenum Academic Press.

2003. Agarwal, S.C., and Stuart-Macadam, P. Reproduction and the Female Skeleton. In: Agarwal, S.C., and Stout, S.D. (eds.). Bone Loss and Osteoporosis: An Anthropological Perspective. Kluwer Plenum Academic Press.

2003. Brickley, M.B. and Agarwal, S.C. Techniques for the Investigation of Age-Related Bone Loss and Osteoporosis in Archaeological Bone. In: Agarwal, S.C., and Stout, S.D. (eds). Bone Loss and Osteoporosis: An Anthropological Perspective. Kluwer Plenum Academic Press.

2003. Nelson, D.A., Sauer, N., and Agarwal, S.C.. In press. Evolutionary aspects of bone health: Development in early human populations. In: Holick M and Dawson-Hughes B, (eds). Nutrition and Bone Health. Totowa NJ: Humana Press Inc.

2002. Nelson, D.A., Sauer, N., and Agarwal, S.C.. Evolutionary Aspects of Bone Health Clinical Reviews in Bone and Mineral Metabolism. 1(3):169-179.

1996. Agarwal, S.C., and Grynpas, M.D. Bone Quantity and Quality in Past Populations. The Anatomical Record. 246:423-432.