Mallory Cox

I received my MA in Anthropology from the University of Louisville in 2018. As an anthropological archaeologist, I analyze human skeletal remains to look for evidence of Plasmodium spp. (malaria) in ancient populations. My research focuses primarily on methods to identify a malaria biomarker called hemozoin. Hemozoin (Hz) is an iron-bearing crystalline pigment that accumulates in the bone marrow cavities of individuals infected with malaria, and it remains there for a lengthy period following clearance of the infection. My ongoing work includes efforts to develop a novel methodology to identify Hz, using ancient genomics for aDNA amplification and magnetic methods for Hz biomarker identification. The broader anthropological question I hope to address with these methods is whether or not Plasmodium spp. was present in the Americas before the 1500s CE.