Douglas Crews

Douglas Crews is a Professor at The Ohio State University with a joint faculty appointment in the School of Public Health. His research focuses on aging, genetic variation, and physiological stress in diverse populations including Samoans, African Americans, and Indigenous groups in Brazil/Ecuador. He explores frailty indices, allostatic load, and skeletal biomarkers to understand health disparities and senescence patterns. Current projects include studies on the Buthia in Sikkim and molecular analyses of HLA systems. Crews advises graduate students conducting fieldwork in Brazil, Ecuador, India, and the U.S. He is affiliated with the Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization in Aging Coordinating Committee.

Research interests include evolutionary anthropology, biocultural health dynamics, and primate welfare science. Notable projects apply allostatic load models to gorillas and chimpanzees, investigate historical health through skeletal remains, and examine migration impacts on immigrant health. Crews' work bridges anthropology, public health, and biology to address global health challenges.

His recent publications analyze frailty in medieval populations, physiological dysregulation in zoo animals, and demographic transitions among Indigenous communities. Collaborative efforts emphasize ethical engagement with vulnerable populations and interdisciplinary methodology to advance understanding of human health and aging processes.