Sponsored by the National Institute on Aging                                                                                                           May 17, 2008
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Burton H. Singer, Ph.D
Professor of Demography and Public Affairs
E-mail: singer@princeton.edu

CurriculumVitae                                                        

Education

Research Interests:

Burt’s research has been centered in three principal areas: identification of social, biological, and environmental risks associated with vector-borne diseases in the tropics, integration of psychosocial and biological evidenced to characterize pathways to alternative states of health, and health impact assessments associated with economic development projects.  Recent projects have included studies of: (1) the impact of migration and urbanization on malaria transmission in the western Amazon region of Brazil and in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; (2) the biological correlates of well-being and health consequences of gene-environment interactions focused on the social environment; and (3) potential health impacts of the Chad-Cameroon petroleum development and pipeline project and the Nam Theun 2 Hydroelectric project in Laos. During the next few years there will be in-depth investigations of the biology of well-being, primarily based on accumulating data in the Mid-life in the United States (MIDUS) national survey and several community-based studies. A new line of inquiry focused on diagnosis of multiple parasitic infections using metabolite profiles derived from NMR spectra will be substantially expanded to include studies of disease pathogenesis and parasite responses to pharmacological interventions. Metabolite profiles will also provide the basis for new operationalizations of the concept of allostatic load. This technology is anticipated to provide a much more refined picture of the biology of well-being than heretofore.

Recent Publications

Karlamangla, AS, Singer, BH, Reuben, DB, Seeman, TE. Increases in serum non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol may be beneficial in some high functioning older adults: MacArthur Studies of Successful Aging. J. Amer. Geriatrics Soc. 52(4): 487 – 494. 2004

Urry, HL, Nitschke, JB, Dolski, I, Jackson, DC, Dalton, KM, Mueller, CJ, Rosenkranz, MA, Ryff, CD, Singer, BH, Davidson, RJ. Making a life worth living: neural correlates of well-being. Psychological Science. 15(6): 367 – 372. 2004

Ryff, CD, Singer, BH, Love, GD. Positive Health: Connecting Well-Being with Biology. Philosophical Transaction of the Royal Society of London. B Biological Sciences Sept. 29 359(1449):1383 – 1394. 2004.

Singer, B, Ryff, CD, Seeman T. Operationalizing Allostatic Load. Pp. 113 – 149 in J Schulkin (ed.) Allostasis, Homeostasis, and the Costs of Physiological Adaptation. Cambridge, UK:Cambridge University Press. 2004

Karlamangla, A, Singer, BH, Williams, DR, Schwartz, JE, Matthews, KA, Kiefe, CI & Seeman, TE. Impact of socioeconomic status on longitudinal accumulation of cardiovascular risk in young adults: the CARDIA study (USA). Social Science and Medicine. 60(5): 999 – 1015. 2005

Karlamangla, A, Singer, BH, Greendale, GA & Seeman, TE. Increase in epinephrine excretion is associated with cognitive decline in elderly men: MacArthur Studies of Successful Aging. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 30: 453 – 460. 2005

Ryff, CD & Singer, BH. Social Environments and the Genetics of Aging: Advancing Knowledge of Protective Health Mechanisms. Journals of Gerontology: Series B Vo. 608 (Special Issue I): 12 – 23. 2005

Wang Y, Holmes, E, Nicholson, JK, Cloarec, O, Chollet, J, Tanner, M, Singer, BH & Utzinger, J. Metabonomic investigations in mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni: an approach for biomarker identification. Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences. 101(34): 12676 – 12681. 2004

Utzinger, J, Wyss, K, Moto, DD, Yemadji N, Tanner, M & Singer, BH. Assessing health impacts of the Chad-Cameroon petroleum development and pipeline project: challenges and a way forward. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 25: 63 - 93. 2005

Ezzati, M, Utzinger, J, Cairncross, S, Cohen AJ, & Singer, BH. Environmental Risks in the Developing World: Exposure Indicators for Evaluating Interventions, Programmes, and Policies. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 59(1): 15 – 22. 2005  

Castro, MC, Singer, BH. Was malaria present in the Amazon before the European conquest? Available evidence and future research agenda. (Article in Press) Journal of Archaelogical Science.32(3): 337 – 340. 2005

Keiser, JR, Castro, MC, Maltese, MF, Bos, R, Tanner, M, Singer, BH, Utzinger, J. Effect of Irrigation and Large Dams on the Burden of Malaria on a Global and Regional Scale. American Journal of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene, 72(4): 392 – 406. 2005

Keiser, JR, Maltese, MF, Erlanger, TE, Bos, R, Tanner, M, Singer, BH, Utzinger, J. Effect of irrigated rice agriculture on Japanese encephalitis including challenges and opportunities for integrated vector management. Acta Tropica, 95: 40 – 57. 2005