The SHIRE Lab is dedicated to exploring health, sickness, and immune function as social phenomena. Simply put, all health is social. How we were raised and taught, our past and current social circumstances, and our social network(s) all affect how we think about and enact sickness. These factors can "get under the skin" to influence our physiological responses to stress and infection and dictate who we come into contact with (and which pathogens we encounter). We take an evolutionary approach and use a variety of methods, including biomarker analyses, to address these questions.
Explore our active projects, organized by domain, below and follow us on social media!
Social Immunology
The social immunology framework (Shattuck, 2021) situates our body's immune system within larger social structures like social networks, economic and political systems, and even culture(s). While we know that some aspects of immunity - namely inflammation - can be affected by these factors, the SHIRE Lab explores the impact of our social worlds on immune function itself.
FSU Flu Shot Study
Beginning in 2026, we will explore the effects of social networks and connections on immune responses to vaccination.
Sickness Behavior and Cultural Models of Sickness
When humans and other animals are sick, their behavior changes in stereotypical patterns. Activity decreases, appetite and food preferences change, sleep increases, and so on. This pattern is thought to be an evolutionary adaptation to ensure that sufficient energy is devoted to immune responses at the expense of other functions. However, sickness behavior also responds to competing cues in a cost/benefit framework. Additionally, the decisions we make about when to stay home and when to go to work, when to seek treatment, and so on are shaped by several factors, like our personal experience with sickness, the culture(s) we inhabit, and the medical systems we use. However, these cognitive/cultural models are relatively unexplored. In the SHIRE lab, we explore human sickness behavior and the factors that affect when, where, and how we express it.
FSU Cultural Models of Sickness
We are currently conducting in-depth interviews of FSU students to understand how they respond to sickness behavior.
Wixárika Models of Sickness
Working with Indigenous Wixárika participants in Jalisco, Mexico, we are quantifying their approaches to sickness in the context of medical pluralism and continued use of traditional healers and plant medicines.
FSU Flu Shot Study
In addition to exploring the effects of social worlds on immune function, we will measure hormonal and behavioral responses to vaccination.
Hadzabe Models of Sickness
We are also working to measure Hadza (also known as Hadzabe) models of sickness during their transition away from their traditional foraging lifestyle.
Tattoo Flu
"Tattoo flu", characterized by lethargy and other flu-like symptoms, is an occasional response to tattooing. We are working to quantify the phenomenon, which may be a unique expression of sickness behavor.
Presenteeism in Medical Professionals
Using data from an NIH-funded R01 grant focused on behavior and cognition in healthcare providers, we are exploring presenteeism (going to work when sick) with communicable illnesses and the intersection between medical knowledge, risks to patients, and institutional pressures to continue working.
Culture and Health
Beyond sickness behavior and immunology, the SHIRE Lab also works on broader health topics across multiple cultural contexts.
Dengue Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices in the Wixárika
Dengue, a mosquito-borne virus, is a critical public health concern in Gadualajara. In this project, we will be working with Wixárika community members and mestizo healthcare providers to understand how authorities can better serve Indigenous communities that may be disproportionately exposed to dengue.
Vaccine Knowledge, Attitudes, and Acceptance in the Hadzabe
Vaccines - particularly childhood vaccines - are an important public health intervention around the world. However, relatively little is known about Indigenous attitudes toward, and acceptance of, vaccines. Working with Hadzabe informants, we are collecting some of the first data on vaccine hesitancy in small-scale, foraging societies.
M0re-Than-Human Sociality
In addition to our relationships with other humans, a growing body of scientific work demonstrates that our relationships with non-humans can also impact our health, both positively and negatively.
AI Relationships
Personal and romantic relationships with AI models are a novel expression of an underlying, evolutionarily adaptive social drive in humans. The impacts of these relationships on health and wellbeing have not yet been quantified. SHIRE Lab members are currently interviewing participants to map these relationships.
Indigenous Religions and Health
While there is decades of research on the impacts of religion and spiritual practices on health outcomes among mainstream religions and in WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrial, Rich, and Democratic) societies, relatively little research has been done on the physiological and psychological benefits of Indigenous religions on their practitioners. The SHIRE Lab is working with data from Wixárika participants and other Indigenous communities to address this gap.
Nature and Health
Being in nature has mental and physical health benefits, as many studies demonstrate. Beyond simply being outside in nature, it may be that our sense of connectedness to nature and all the organisms therein moderate this effect, something we are currently exploring in the lab.
Meet the Lab
Lab Alumni
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Jadyn Forman (Honors in the Major Thesis, "Goal Setting, Sense of Self, and Sense of Womanhood in Undergraduate Women with Awareness of their Fertility Levels")
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Teagan Hayes (MS, "“Multidimensional effects of food insecurity: a study of childhood food insecurity and health, food cravings and nutritional deficiencies, and chronic disease risk”)
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Carter Parent
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Karolina Calderin Vargas
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Aidan Wilson
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Julia Matheny
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Jake Markham
