معرفی
Julian Christians is a Professor and Chair of Physiology & Genetics at the Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University. His research focuses on the prenatal environment's lifelong health impacts, particularly the placenta's role in mitigating suboptimal conditions and sex-dependent responses. He investigates both mechanistic and evolutionary aspects of fetal adaptation.
Roles & Affiliations:
- Professor and Chair (Physiology & Genetics)
- Lab Director (Christians Lab)
- Course Instructor: BISC 498 (Undergraduate Research), BISC 445 (Environmental Physiology of Animals)
Research Interests:
Dr. Christians studies how prenatal adversity influences health outcomes, with a focus on placental biology, sexual dimorphism in fetal growth strategies, and evolutionary adaptations. His work bridges mechanistic biology and ecological perspectives, examining maternal nutrition, obesity, and maternal age effects.
Recent Contributions: His publications analyze sex-dependent responses to maternal diet, placental pathology outcomes, and bone recovery post-lactation. He advocates for rigorous statistical approaches to studying sex-specific effects in developmental programming.
Labs/Teams: Leads the Christians Lab exploring developmental origins of health and disease, with projects on placental adaptation and evolutionary medicine.
