Palaeopathology and Evolutionary Medicine: An Integrated Approach is an impressive collection of contributions by a range of scientists working to apply emerging insights about the ancient past with contemporary medical challenges. Ambitious in the breadth of subjects covered, it presents not only a much needed and up-to-date view of the field, it offers a contextualized understanding of why and how ancient pathologies can be used to better understand
contemporary medical challenges.
Kimberly A. Plomp is a bioarchaeologist with expertise in palaeopathology and human evolution. She has a PhD in Anthropology and Archaeology from Durham University, UK and has held three postdoctoral posts at Simon Fraser University, Canada and the University of Liverpool, UK. She is now an Associate Professorial Fellow and Chief of the Osteoarchaeology laboratory in the Archaeological Studies Program at the University of the Philippines.
Charlotte A. Roberts is a bioarchaeologist with a background in general nursing. She has specific expertise in palaeopathology and has conducted research and teaching in bioarchaeology for around 40 years. Her academic career started at the University of Bradford, UK but worked at Durham University, UK for 20 years before retiring. Her key research areas focus on the origin, evolution and history of infectious diseases, she is passionate about engaging the public with her
research, and works on ethical implications of studying archaeological human remains. She is a Fellow of the British Academy.
Gillian Bentley is a biosocial anthropologist who was previously a bioarchaeologist specialising in the ancient Near East. She later retrained in bioanthropology and has since focused on reproductive ecology, early life development, and migrant health. She has held a strong interest in evolutionary medicine for several years, publishing numerous articles in the field and creating one of the first Masters in Evolutionary Medicine at Durham University, UK. She is an Associate
Editor of OUP's journal Evolution, Medicine and Public Health and was a founding member of the International Society for Evolution, Medicine and Public Health for which she is also a council member.
Sarah Elton is Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology at Durham University, UK having previously worked at the Hull York Medical School, where she developed an interest in critical approaches to evolutionary medicine, complementing her overarching research interest on the ecological context for human evolution. Her primary research focuses on primate morphology, ecology and biogeography. In the field of evolutionary medicine, she co-edited, with Paul O'Higgins, Medicine and
Evolution: Current Applications, Future Prospects (CRC Press, 2008). She co-authored, with Stanley Ulijaszek and Neil Mann, Evolving Human Nutrition: Implications for Public Health, (Cambridge University Press, 2012), and has also written on evolutionary nutrition for an international medical
audience.