HUMAN BIOLOGY

The term “ normal ” is used frequently to describe human biological features, yet this characterization is often uncontested by many, including human biologists who seek to understand population variation in human biology and its underlying causes. Normal has two meanings in human populations: statistical norms (i.e., measures of central tendencies and population dis-tributions) and culturally shaped normative views about what bodies “ should ” be like. The latter often give rise to what has been termed ethno-biocentric views about human biology that reflect cultural biases about what is “ normal. ” Normal is also often equated with “ healthy, ” especially regarding biomarker cut-offs for determining normal/healthy vs. abnormal/potential pathology. Assumptions about what constitutes normal human biology have pervaded biomedical research, the shortcom-ings of which have been recognized in successive NIH mandates since the 1990s to include more women, ethnic diversity, and most recently, age diversity in clinical trials.In this plenary session each speaker highlights a different human biological feature, the ways in which it is known to vary, and how certain versions of it are understood to be normal, illustrating what is known about its statistical distribution, exposing normative meanings, and identifying the scientific foundations (or lack thereof) for them (i.e. is a particular “ normal range ” associated with meaningful differences in health outcomes compared to those outside of this “ normal range? ” ). Furthermore, the speakers will consider if there is a relationship between statistical norms and normative views. The plenary topics include: Weight, height, skin color, sex-related bone health, ovarian func-tioning, pregnancy health guidelines, diet, and “ race. ”


GREETINGS FROM HBA PROGRAM COMMITTEE CHAIR!
The 46th Annual Meeting of the Human Biology Association will be held virtually from Monday, March 28-to Friday April 2, 2021. Most sessions will be 11:00 am-5 PM EDT. We chose this timeframe to maximize convenience for our members across different time zones. We are happy to provide a reduced registration costs and can receive registrations through the conference but to guarantee access at the start, please register before March 20th. Non-members who register for the meeting are also welcome to attend. Our conference planner, NomadIT will be hosting a training session for our primary online platform, Shindig. You can also check out their demo on www.shindig.com.
The meetings open with the Plenary Session, "The normal and the normative in human biology" organized by Jennifer Cullin and Virginia Vitzthum. This session brings together researchers from diverse backgrounds to tease apart the statistical, cultural and clinical conceptualization of "normal" in relation to a variety of biological markers ranging from bone health to ovarian function. This year's Raymond Pearl Memorial Speaker is Dr. Andrea Wiley. She will present "Biological Normalcy: A new way forward for biocultural analysis of human population variation" at 3:45 PM on Monday, March 28. Dr. Wiley is a Professor of Anthropology at Indiana University at Bloomington and a former HBA President and Secretary/Treasurer. Her research explores feedback relationships between cultural norms and population biology. Specifically, she has focused on the relationship between non-human milk consumption and child growth, how this may have contributed to the evolution of alleles for milk digestion, and how ideas about milk and growth have played a role in the current global spread of milk drinking.
The Poster Session will be open for the entire conference, with presenters available via Zoom on Tuesday, March 29 from 11:30 am -3:ro PM EDT. The posters will be posted on https://virtualpostersession.org/. Two exciting Breakout Sessions will occur between 1:00-2:00 PM EDT, one on engaging marginalized communities and the other session on science communications by our student representatives. Following the poster session, a student reception will take place on Shindig from 3:30-5:00 PM EDT on Tuesday, March 29.
Wednesday and Thursday will hold contributed podium presentations on a variety of topics and will hold one session dedicated to student presentation. Wednesday afternoon we will have a special networking and community building session organized by the students and junior service fellows. Thursday afternoon we will have our awards ceremony and reception. Congratulations to this year's Boas awardee Bill Leonard and Little awardee Zachary DuBois! The conference closes on Friday, April 2 with a new feature -Place Based Human Biology. This year's focus is Mexico and features work by our colleagues at Institutions in Mexico and some collaborators from outside institutions. The session includes both podium and poster presentations. The posters will be available throughout the week, but presenters will be available for questions FROM 1:30-3:00 PM EDT on Friday, April 2. Thank you to Alejandra Núñez-de la Mora for making this session a reality.
A detailed schedule of presentations and events, abstracts, and an index of presenters follow this summary and is also available at www.humbio.org. The term "normal" is used frequently to describe human biological features, yet this characterization is often uncontested by many, including human biologists who seek to understand population variation in human biology and its underlying causes. Normal has two meanings in human populations: statistical norms (i.e., measures of central tendencies and population distributions) and culturally shaped normative views about what bodies "should" be like. The latter often give rise to what has been termed ethno-biocentric views about human biology that reflect cultural biases about what is "normal." Normal is also often equated with "healthy," especially regarding biomarker cut-offs for determining normal/healthy vs. abnormal/potential pathology. Assumptions about what constitutes normal human biology have pervaded biomedical research, the shortcomings of which have been recognized in successive NIH mandates since the 1990s to include more women, ethnic diversity, and most recently, age diversity in clinical trials.In this plenary session each speaker highlights a different human biological feature, the ways in which it is known to vary, and how certain versions of it are understood to be normal, illustrating what is known about its statistical distribution, exposing normative meanings, and identifying the scientific foundations (or lack thereof) for them (i.e. is a particular "normal range" associated with meaningful differences in health outcomes compared to those outside of this "normal range?"). Furthermore, the speakers will consider if there is a relationship between statistical norms and normative views. The plenary topics include: Weight, height, skin color, sex-related bone health, ovarian functioning, pregnancy health guidelines, diet, and "race."