SoS 249: Cup, Swab, or Pad? How Collection Shapes Menstrual Biomarkers

Dr. Luisa María Rivera is a critical biocultural anthropologist whose work examines how social inequality, trauma, and structural violence shape reproductive and maternal–infant health. She integrates ethnographic research with epigenomic and other molecular approaches to trace how stress during development can reverberate across generations and to understand the implications of these findings for health policy. Luisa earned her B.A. from Harvard (2008), an M.P.H. from the University of Minnesota (2015), and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Emory University (2022). She is currently a Neukom Postdoctoral Fellow at Dartmouth College, mentored by Dr. Zaneta Thayer (Anthropology) and Dr. Brock Christensen (Geisel School of Medicine). Her research includes long-term work in post-war communities in Guatemala and with historically marginalized communities in the United States. Luisa previously joined the Sausage of Science “Hackademics” series in Episode 114, Dissertation Research in the Time of COVID-19. ------------------------------ Find the paper discussed in this episode: Vlasac, I. M., Stolrow, H. G., Thayer, Z. M., Christensen, B. C., & Rivera, L. (2025). DNA-based cell typing in menstrual effluent identifies cell type variation by sample collection method: toward noninvasive biomarker development for women’s health. Epigenetics, 20(1), 2453275. https://doi.org/10.1080/15592294.2025.2453275 ------------------------------ Contact Luisa: E-mail: Luisa.Rivera@dartmouth.edu website: https://luisamariarivera.com/ Google Scholar ------------------------------ Contact the Sausage of Science Podcast and Human Biology Association: Facebook: facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation/, Website: humbio.org, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc Chris Lynn, Host Website: cdlynn.people.ua.edu/, E-mail: cdlynn@ua.edu, Twitter:@Chris_Ly Cristina Gildee, Co-host, SoS Co-Producer, HBA Junior Fellow Website: cristinagildee.org, E-mail: cgildee@uw.edu,