Robert L. Tennyson, PhD
Researcher
I am a biological anthropologist studying how ecological and social environments shape human biology. My research focuses on stress and its influence on interconnected immune, endocrine, and molecular processes related to aging. I am especially interested in how stressors in one domain (e.g., physical activity or microbial exposure) can recalibrate physiological responses in another, including psychosocial stress. More broadly, I ask why lived experiences that appear highly stressful may, in some contexts, protect against the negative effects of aging.
For example, I examine how formal military participation is associated with healthier aging among Vietnamese survivors of the American War, and why childhood adversity is inversely associated with aging biomarkers in Division I student-athletes. At its core, my research explores how humans evolved to rely on a limited, shared set of physiological systems to navigate diverse ecological and social challenges, and how evolutionary mismatch - layered onto contemporary social inequities - shapes patterns of health and aging in modern populations.
Research Interests
My research draws on evolutionary biology, geroscience, and biocultural anthropology to examine how psychosocial stress, eustress, and other ecological challenges interact to shape human biology and aging across the life course. Using physiological and molecular biomarkers alongside behavioral and social data, I study aging in diverse contexts, ranging from US collegiate athletes to Vietnamese survivors of the American War in Vietnam. My goal is to explain why aging trajectories differ within and across populations, and how those differences reflect both evolutionary history and contemporary environments.
Selected Publications
Franck M, Tanner KT, Tennyson RL, Daunizeau C, Ferrucci L, Bandinelli S, Trumble BC, Kaplan HS, Aronoff JE, Stieglitz J, Kraft TS, Lea AJ, Venkataraman VV, Wallace IJ, Lim YAL, Ng KS, Yeong JPS, Ho R, Lim X, Mehrjerd A, Charalambous EG, Aiello AE, Pawelec G, Franceschi C, Hertel J, Fülöp T, Lemoine M, Gurven M, Cohen AA. (2025). Nonuniversality of inflammaging across human populations. Nature Aging. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-025-00888-0
Nanda AN**, Logan A, Tennyson RL. (2024). The Influence of Perceived Stress and Motivation on Telomere Length Among NCAA Swimmers. American Journal of Human Biology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.24091
Tennyson RL, Gettler LT, Kuzawa CW, Hayes MG, Agustin S, Eisenberg D. (2018). Does early life microbial exposure modify the link between psychosocial stress and telomere length in the Philippines? American Journal of Human Biology. doi: 10.1002/ajhb.23145.