Professor of Epidemiology and Anthropology

Stephen McGarvey is Professor of Epidemiology and Anthropology. 

McGarvey continues his 40-year-long global health and biological anthropology research on the human biology and population health consequences of modernization among Samoans. He leads several studies examining the genetic, physiologic, and behavioral influences on cardiometabolic disease risk factors in Samoa and American Samoa. He led a recently completed study implementing behavioral interventions on type 2 diabetes. He currently directs a collaborative study identifying genome-wide influences on adiposity and metabolic phenotypes, with emphasis on detecting specific interactions between genetic variants and individual level dietary habits, physical activity, cigarette smoking, and alcohol consumption on adiposity and cardiometabolic phenotypes.

He collaborates with other PSTC researchers led by Michael White on research focused on the effects of migration and urbanization on cardiometabolic health and HIV in South Africa. In addition, he collaborates with other PSTC researchers on modeling the joint influence of HIV and cardiometabolic conditions on population health in several African nations with implications for health service needs. He is also a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Scholarly Interests

Global health, Human population biology, Non-communicable diseases, Nutrition transition

Affiliated Departments

Department of Anthropology

School of Public Health