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.
Scroll below to see Dr. Bjork-James’ publications or click on her website for publications and more.
You can also visit the Genetic Anthropology and Bio-Cultural Studies Lab website
Specializations
Genetics, Race, Genetic Ancestry, Ancient DNA, Health disparities, African descendants, Caribbean
Representative publications
Books
Benn Torres, Jada, and Gabriel A Torres Colón
2020 Genetic Ancestry: Our Stories, Our Pasts: Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Genetic-Ancestry-Our-Stories-Our-Pasts/Torres-Colon/p/book/9780367026240
Benn Torres, Jada
2018d Effective population size. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781118584538.ieba0151
Journal Articles
Benn Torres, Jada
2019a A Parrot among John Crows: Diversity as Risk and Reward. American Anthropologist 121(2):474-476. https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/aman.13217
2019b Race, Rare Genetic Variants, and the Science of Human Difference in the Post-Genomic Age. Transforming Anthropology 27(1):37-49. https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/traa.12144
2019c Anthropological perspectives on genomic data, genetic ancestry, and race. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 171 Suppl 70:74-86. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31837009 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/ajpa.23979?download=true
Benn Torres, Jada, et al.
2019d Analysis of biogeographic ancestry reveals complex genetic histories for indigenous communities of St. Vincent and Trinidad. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 169(3):482-497. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31125126 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ajpa.23859
Benn Torres, Jada
2018a ‘Reparational’ Genetics: Genomic Data and the Case for Reparations in the Caribbean. Genealogy (Basel) 2(1):7. https://res.mdpi.com/d_attachment/genealogy/genealogy-02-00007/article_deploy/genealogy-02-00007.pdf
Harcourt, Fuller, and Jada Benn Torres
2018b Investigating the “Taíno” ancestry of the Jamaican Maroons: a new genetic (DNA), historical, and multidisciplinary analysis and case study of the Accompong Town Maroons. Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies 43(1):47-78. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08263663.2018.1426227
Benn Torres, Jada, and Gabriel A Torres
2017 ¿ Afrocaribeños y originarios? Genética, memoria y presencia africana en el Caribe. Anales del Caribe. https://www.academia.edu/36779962/_Afrocaribeños_y_originarios_Genética_memoria_y_presencia_africana_en_el_Caribe
Benn Torres, Jada
2016a Genetic Anthropology and Archaeology: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Human History in the Caribbean. PaleoAmerica 2(1):1-5. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20555563.2016.1139859
2016b A history of you, me, and humanity: mitochondrial DNA in anthropological research. AIMS Genetics 3(2):146-156. http://www.aimspress.com/journal/Genetics http://www.aimspress.com/article/10.3934/genet.2016.2.146
Benn Torres, Jada, and A. Torres Colón Gabriel
2015a Racial experience as an alternative operationalization of race. Human Biology 87(4):306-312. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27737592 https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol87/iss4/4/
Benn Torres, Jada, et al.
2015b Genetic diversity in the lesser antilles and its implications for the settlement of the caribbean Basin. PLoS ONE 10(10):e0139192. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26447794 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4598113/pdf/pone.0139192.pdf
Nicole, Madrilejo, Lombard Holden, and Jada Benn Torres
2015c Origins of marronage: Mitochondrial lineages of Jamaica's Accompong Town Maroons. American Journal of Human Biology 27(3):432-7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25392952 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ajhb.22656
Benn Torres, Jada
2014a Current Issue 25 Years of GeneWatch Subscribe to GeneWatch. GeneWatch 27:2.
2014b Prospecting the past: Genetic perspectives on the extinction and survival of indigenous peoples of the Caribbean. New Genetics and Society 33(1):21-41. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14636778.2013.873245
Benn Torres, Jada, C. Stone Anne, and Kittles Rick
2013 An anthropological genetic perspective on creolization in the anglophone caribbean. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 151(1):135-43. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23553646 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ajpa.22261
Benn Torres, Jada, et al.
2012 Y chromosome lineages in men of west African descent. PLoS ONE 7(1):e29687. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22295064 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3266241/pdf/pone.0029687.pdf
Stanley, Hooker, et al.
2010 Replication of prostate cancer risk loci on 8q24, 11q13, 17q12, 19q33, and Xp11 in African Americans. Prostate 70(3):270-5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19902474 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/pros.21061
Sonia, Kupfer, et al.
2009a 768 Novel SNP Associations with Colorectal Cancer On 8q24 and 5q in African and European Americans. Gastroenterology 136(5). https://www.gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-5085(09)60538-2/pdf
Sonia, S. Kupfer, et al.
2009b Novel single nucleotide polymorphism associations with colorectal cancer on chromosome 8q24 in African and European Americans. Carcinogenesis 30(8):1353-7. https://academic.oup.com/carcin/article/30/8/1353/2476933
Veda, N. Giri, et al.
2009c Race, genetic west African ancestry, and prostate cancer prediction by prostate-specific antigen in prospectively screened high-risk men. Cancer Prevention Research 2(3):244-50. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19240249 https://cancerpreventionresearch.aacrjournals.org/content/canprevres/2/3/244.full.pdf
Wenndy, Hernandez, et al.
2009d Abstract 4725: Interrogating region 4 of 8q24.13 for prostate cancer risk in African Americans. Cancer research (Chicago, Ill.) 70:4725-4725. https://www.infona.pl/resource/bwmeta1.element.elsevier-0078fd3f-f2fd-3681-84f5-4b00def759de
Benn Torres, Jada, et al.
2008 Admixture and Population Stratification in African Caribbean Populations. Annals of Human Genetics 72(1):90-98. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-1809.2007.00398.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-1809.2007.00398.x
Benn Torres, Jada, R. A. Kittles, and A. C. Stone
2007a Mitochondrial and Y chromosome diversity in the English-speaking Caribbean. Annals of Human Genetics 71(Pt 6):782-90. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17596204 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-1809.2007.00380.x
Benn Torres, Jada, and A. Kittles Rick
2007b The relationship between race and genetics and biomedical research. Current Hypertension Reports 9(3):196-201. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17519124 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11906-007-0035-1
Christiane, Robbins, et al.
2007c Confirmation study of prostate cancer risk variants at 8q24 in African Americans identifies a novel risk locus. Genome Research 17(12):1717-22. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17978284 https://genome.cshlp.org/content/17/12/1717.full.pdf
Conference Presentations and Procedings
Winful, Taiye, et al.
2019e African Ancestry in the Americas: Perspectives on Afro-Puerto Rican Maternal Ancestry. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2019e. Vol. 168, pp. 272-272. WILEY 111 RIVER ST, HOBOKEN 07030-5774, NJ USA.
Nieves-Colon, Maria A, Anne C Stone, and Jada Benn Torres
2018c Genome-wide admixture patterns in Afro-Caribbean populations from the Lesser Antilles. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2018c. Vol. 165, pp. 189-189.
