Center for Human Growth and Development

A. Roberto Frisancho, Ph.D.
Senior Research Scientist, CHGD;
Arthur A. Thurnau Professor of Anthropology , College of LS&A

223 West Hall

Department of Anthropology

University of Michigan

Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1092

Phone: (734) 764-8577

Fax: (734) 763-6077

Email: arfrisan@umich.edu

A. Roberto Frisancho is a biological anthropologist whose research currently encompasses these areas: (1) the development of anthropometric references for the evaluation of growth and nutritional status of children and adults. He is currently working on the second edition of the anthropometric standards; (2) the determination of the developmental components of respiratory adaptation to high altitude hypoxia. For this purpose, he and his colleagues from the Bolivian Institute of High Altitude are studying the respiratory characteristics of Western Sea Level children growing up in La Paz, Bolivia (13,000 Ft.); (3) the biological and environmental components of blood pressure variability among Blacks; (4) the role of nutrition and diet on the evolution of biological traits of humans; and (5) determining the role of undernutrition on the development of obesity.

A. Roberto Frisancho was the recipient of the LS&A Excellence in Education Award for years 1996, 1997 and 1998. He also received the Amoco Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award in 1997. In 1999 he was named the Arthur A. Thurnau Professor of Anthropology for his distinguished teaching record.In 2003 he was promoted to Research Professor of the Center for Human Growth & Development.

PUBLISHED ARTICLES: more than 125 articles in scietific journals.
* Frisancho AR. 2003.Reduced rate of fat oxidation: A metabolic pathway to obesity in the developing nations. Am J Hum Biol. 15: 35-52.
* Frisancho AR, Tanner S and Abrams ET. 2001. Influence of parental obesity of Mexican-American children. Acta Medica Auxologica. 33: 213-217.
* Frisancho AR, Guilding N and Tanner S. 2001.Growth of leg length is reflected in socio-economic differences. Acta Medica Auxologica 33:47-50.
* Frisancho AR. 2000. Prenatal compared with parental origins of Adolescent Fatness Am J Clin Nutr 72:1186-1190.
* Frisancho AR, S Farrow, Friedenzohn J, T Johnson, B Kapp, C Miranda, M Perez, I Rauchle, N Sanchez, K Swaninger, G. Wheatcroft, LWoodill, I Ayllon, R Soria, A Rodriguez, J Machicao. 1999. Role of genetic and environmental factors in the increased blood pressures of Bolivian Blacks. Amer. J. Hum. Biol: 11: 489-498
PUBLISHED BOOKS
*. Frisancho AR. 1993. Human Adaptation and Accommodation to Environmental Stress. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
*. Frisancho AR. 1990. Anthropometric Standards for the Evaluation of Growth and Nutritional Status. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
*. Frisancho AR. 1982. Human adaptation: A functional interpretation. 2nd Ed. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press.
*. Frisancho AR. 1979. Human Adaptation. St. Louis, Missouri: C.V. Mosby Inc.

UPCOMING PUBLICATIONS:

Nutrition and Evolution: Mankind Evolving. 2004-2005. Dubuque, Indiana Kendall-Hunt Publishing Company.

Nutritional Anthropometry. 2005. Ann Arbor, MI. University of Michigan Press.