Masako Fujita
- Associate Professor
- Director, Biomarker Laboratory for Anthropological Research
Contact
Curriculum vitae
Research Interests
Biological Anthropology, Evolutionary Medicine, Ecological Immunology
Human Adaptability, Maternal and Infant Health, Human Milk, Biomarker Methods
Africa
Biographical Info
I am a biological anthropologist with a broad background in human biological variation with training in evolutionary theory, evolutionary medicine, ecological immunology, and human adaptability. I am interested in uncovering the reasons why some public health problems, such as anemia, are so pervasive despite decades of intervention efforts. I tend to draw on evolutionary and social theories to study these problems situated in ecological and cultural settings. I have investigated how women and children cope with nutritional and disease stress in harsh conditions of northern Kenya. I have also investigated how human milk nutrient and immune content change (or not) when mothers are subjected to nutritional and disease stress, again in northern Kenya. Together with my team, I am currently preparing for a new study to characterize how the immune system of milk responds to bacterial stimuli, and how this may differ between mother-infant dyads.
Current Research Projects
- Implications of selling livestock during drought for mother-infant infection risks among Kenyan agropastoralists (with Bilinda Straight, Western Michigan U)
- Exploring the extent dietary diversity protects against folate deficiency among breastfeeding mothers amid drought and food shortage (with Ananyaa Asthana)
- Exploring Human Milk Immune Specificity in Michigan Mothers (with MSU students Aditi Sharma, Alli Harkenrider, and Ananyaa Asthana and Katherine Wander, Binghamton U)
Publications
Forthcoming. Vankayalapati A, Wamwere-Njoroge G, Fujita M. Effects of household composition on infant feeding and mother-infant health in northern Kenya. American Journal of Human Biology. https;//doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23993
2023. Wander K, Fujita M, Mattison S, et al. Does the immune system of milk increase activity for infants experiencing infectious disease episodes in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania? American Journal of Human Biology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23897
2022. Fujita M. Wander K, Paredes Ruvalcaba N, Odo A.N. Human milk lactoferrin variation in relation to maternal inflammation and iron deficiency in northern Kenya. American Journal of Human Biology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23812
2022. Fujita M, Brindle E. Comparing the creamatocrit of human milk before and after long-term freezing. Experimental Results. https://www.doi.org/10.1017/exp.2022.9
2022. Fujita M, Wander K, Tran T, Brindle E. Characterizing the extent human milk folate is buffered against maternal malnutrition and infection in drought-stricken northern Kenya. American Journal of Biological Anthropology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24603
2022. Wander K, Fujita M, Mattison S, et al. Tradeoffs in milk immunity affect infant infectious disease risk. Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoac020
2021. Wander K, Fujita M, Spathis R, et al. In vitro stimulation of whole milk specimens: a field-friendly method to assess milk immune activity. Journal of Human Lactation. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0890334421999628
2020. Paredes Ruvalcaba N, Bignall E, Fujita M. Age and socioeconomic status in relation to risk of maternal anemia among the Ariaal agropastoralists of northern Kenya. Human Ecology. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10745-020-00129-5
2019. Fujita M, Wander K, Paredes Ruvalcaba N, Brindle E. Human milk sIgA antibody in relation to maternal nutrition and infant vulnerability in northern Kenya. Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoz030
2019. Corbitt M, Paredes Ruvalcaba N, Fujita M. Variation in breast milk macronutrient contents by maternal anemia and hemoglobin concentration in northern Kenya. American Journal of Human Biology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23238