Jada Benn Torres
Associate Professor (Genetics, Race, Genetic Ancestry)
She/her/hers
Jada Benn Torres, PhD., Associate Professor of Anthropology and the director for the Laboratory of Genetic Anthropology and Biocultural Studies at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Her primary research area is the Anglophone Caribbean where she explores genetic ancestry and population history of African and Indigenous Caribbean peoples. A second emerging area of her research combines the tools and theories of genetic epidemiology with anthropology in order to holistically examine health disparities. This work focuses on women’s health disparities, with a specific focus on the uterine fibroids among women of African descent.
Specializations
Genetics, Race, Genetic Ancestry, Ancient DNA, Health disparities, African descendants, Caribbean
Representative publications
- In press Benn Torres, J. A parrot among John Crows: diversity as risk and reward. American Anthropologist, Vital Topics. DOI:10.1111/aman.13217
- In press Benn Torres, J. Race, rare genetic variants, and the science of human difference in the post-genomic age. Transforming Anthropology. DOI:10.1111/traa.12144
- 2018 Benn Torres, J. ‘Reparational’ Genetics: Genomic data and the case for reparations in the Caribbean. Genealogy, 2(1), 7; doi:10.3390/genealogy2010007 DOI: 10.3390/genealogy2010007