Dorothy Nelson

Professor of Anthropology
222 Anibal
(248) 370-2426
[email protected]

Research Interests
Ethnic differences in skeletal health, bone mass and body composition in growth and development, osteoporosis

Selected Publications

Nelson DA. Evolutionary origins of the differences in osteoporosis risk in US populations. J Clin Densitom 2018: in press; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocd.2018.01.001

Luo J, Thomason C, Hendryx M, Tinker LF, Manson JE, Li Y, Nelson DA et al. Accuracy of self-reported weight in the Women’s Health Initiative. Public Health Nutr 2018; 19:1-10. doi: 10.1017/S1368980018003002

Luo J, Hendryx M, Laddu D, Phillips LS, Chlebowski R, LeBlanc ES, Allison DB, Nelson DA et al. Racial and ethnic differences in anthropometric measures as risk factors for diabetes. Diabetes Care 2019; 42:126-133. doi: 10.2337/dc18-1413

Nelson DA. "Human variability in bone mass measurements." J Clin Densitom 2015:18:451-452 (published online July 7, 2015).

Nelson DA, Agarwal SC, Darga LL. "Bone Health from an Evolutionary Perspective: Development in Early Human Populations." In: Holick MF and Nieves JW, eds.  Nutrition and Bone Health, 2nd Edition. New York: Springer, 2015.

Nelson DA, Beck TJ, Wu G, Lewis CE, Bassford T, Cauley JA, LeBoff MS, Going SB, Chen Z. "Ethnic differences in femur geometry in the Women’s Health Initiative observational study." Osteoporosis International, 2011; 22:1377-1388.

Nelson DA, Pettifor JM, Norris SA. "Race, ethnicity and osteoporosis." In: Marcus R, Feldman D, Nelson DA, Rosen CJ. Osteoporosis, Third Edition. San Diego: Elsevier, 2007.

Nelson DA, Darga L, Simon M, Severson RK. "Radial bone density and breast cancer risk in white and African-American women." Osteoporosis International, 2004;15:535-540.

Nelson DA, Megyesi MS. "Sex and ethnic differences in bone architecture." Current Osteoporosis Reports 2004:2:65-69.

Nelson DA, Pettifor JM, Barondess DA, Cody DD, Uusi-Rasi K, Beck TJ. "Comparison of cross-sectional geometry of the proximal femur in White and Black women from Detroit and Johannesburg." Journal of Bone Mineral Research, 2004;19:560-565.

Nelson DA, Rizvi S, Bhattacharyya T, Ortega J, Lachant N, Swerdlow P. "Trabecular and integral bone density in patients with sickle cell disease." J Clin Densitom 2003;6:125-130.

Nelson, DA and Villa, ML. "Ethnic differences in bone mass and bone architecture." In: Agarwal S and Stout S. Bone Loss and Osteoporosis: An Anthropological Perspective. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. 2003.

Nelson DA, Barondess DA. "A noninvasive measure of physical maturity as a predictor of bone mass in children." Journal of the American College of Nutrition,2000; 19(1):38-41.

Nelson DA, Barondess DA, Hendrix SL, Beck TJ. "Cross-sectional geometry, bone strength, and bone mass in the proximal femur in black and white postmenopausal women." Journal of Bone Mineral Research, 2000; 15:1992-1997.

Nelson DA, VandeVord PJ, Wooley PH. "Polymorphism in the Vitamin D receptor gene and bone mass in African-American and white mothers and children: a preliminary report." Annals of Rheumatic Diseases, 2000;59(8):626-630.

Nelson DA, Barondess DA. "Whole body bone, fat and lean mass in children: comparison of three ethnic groups." American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 1997; 103(2):157-162.

Courses Taught
AN 1511 - Human and Cultural Evolution
AN 3221 - The Human Skeleton
AN 3620 - Primate Behavior
AN 3720 - Human Adaptation
AN 4720 - Advanced Physical Anthropology