Read more about their work here.
Tara Cepon Robins, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Anthropology
1. How would you describe the main idea or main takeaway from your most recent research or creative work to someone outside your field?
The main takeaway from our paper, “Hyperandrogenism associated with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) may have a protective effect against fracture risk in female athletes: A pilot study,” is that PCOS is likely an evolutionary mismatch disease. This concept suggests that a heritable trait that may have been beneficial and evolved in one environment becomes maladaptive in another as time progresses. Our study revealed that female athletes with PCOS had a lower likelihood of experiencing bone fractures compared to their counterparts without PCOS. This intriguing finding suggests that hyperandrogenism linked to PCOS could be serving as a protective factor in female bone health, which would have been advantageous for ancestral populations. However, over time, hyperandrogenism coupled with divergence from ancestral diets and energy expenditure may no longer provide direct benefits to the population.
2. What is the key paper or author/performer who has most inspired your recent research/creative work?
The PCOS paper was greatly influenced by Elisabeth Lloyd, whose collaborative work with D. Wilson and E. Sober in the publication, “Evolutionary Mismatch and What To Do About It: A Basic Tutorial” played a pivotal role in shaping our research.
3. How do you see this research/creative piece contributing to new insights in the field/sparking conversation?
This paper is calling attention to the importance of testing specific factors in association with mismatch disease. PCOS has many underlying symptoms that needed to be explored on their own to understand if they may have once served as a selective advantage. This also has implications for understanding why PCOS is so common around the world and why it poses a problem to reproductive health today. We also have several future directions that stem from this regarding breastfeeding duration and menarche onset, so this project promises to keep on giving and sparking new conversations.
4. Can you describe the contributions of co-authors or collaborators who were essential to the success of this project?
Courtney Manthey (UCCS Research Affiliate and former undergraduate student) led the PCOS project both as the principal investigator and first author. Her personal experience with PCOS drives her passion for this research area. She will further her studies on PCOS at the University of Montana, focusing on exploring the genetic aspects of PCOS through an evolutionary perspective. In her upcoming project, she will specifically investigate PCOS genes in the Pacific and Mexico. Dr. Tara Cepon-Robins (UCCS) and Dr. Anna Warrener (CU Denver) aided Courtney in research design and helped with the writing and editing of the final paper.
5. What impact do you hope this work makes?
We hope this work stresses importance of understanding the ultimate, evolutionary causes of certain modern diseases. Many diseases that we consider negative now stem from earlier environments where they may have been neutral or even beneficial. Anxiety protected us from being attacked by predators. Fat storage allowed us to survive seasonal scarcity brought on by famines. In our current, high chronic stress environments where calorically dense foods are easy to come by, these issues can become problematic for our health. Our study supports hyperandrogenism associated with PCOS in the same way, suggesting that it may have once helped protect us from fractures by buffering our bone density, but in our current environment it contributes to the suite of negative health outcomes associated with PCOS.
6. What is on deck for you as you get started on your next project?
Courtney Manthey will be leaving UCCS to start her new Ph.D. program at the University of Montana. Courtney has been an amazing collaborator and has helped Dr. Cepon-Robins’ by assisting her on several projects. We will miss her but are excited to hear about her future endeavors! Courtney is currently in Samoa conducting fieldwork and will be expanding her work on understanding the adaptive origins of PCOS to the Pacific and Mexico. Dr. Cepon-Robins will be continuing her work in rural communities in the United States, focusing on infection and chronic disease risk, immune system development, and both child and older adult health. Students interested in working with Dr. Cepon-Robins should reach out to her!
7. Where and when do you feel you are the most productive/creative/inspired?
Courtney has been getting a ton of research and writing work done on her downtime in her fieldwork in Samoa. Dr. Cepon-Robins also feels most productive while in the field. Fieldwork often provides a unique opportunity to focus on writing when not busy collecting data and working with participants!