Robert L. Tennyson, PhD
Researcher
I am a Biological Anthropologist studying how environments, experiences, and behavior become biologically embedded across the life course. Drawing on evolutionary biology, geroscience, and biocultural perspectives, my research focuses on shared physiological systems (especially immune, endocrine, and molecular pathways) to understand how adversity, stress, and eustress shape human health and aging across both contemporary and evolutionary time scales.
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.