Randolph M. Nesse, M.D.: Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and of Psychology, University of Michigan; Research Professor and Founding Director, Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University
Monday, March 25, 2024,
2:30pm – 3:30 pm.
ASA Koffler Great Room Zoom
Do you ever wonder why aging exists at all? It is influenced by genes, so you would think natural selection would eliminate it. But, sadly, it persists. Come to this presentation to find out why, how the search for an explanation led to the new field of evolutionary medicine, and how these insights can help us understand our own aging.
As an undergraduate, Randolph Nesse wrote a paper asking why natural selection didn’t eliminate something as obviously harmful as aging. After joining the faculty at the University of Michigan, his search for a more solid foundation for understanding mental disorders led to discussions with biologists who explained that his excellent education had omitted the evolutionary half of biology. That led to a collaboration with the great biologist George Williams and their seminal book, Why We Get Sick: The New Science of Darwinian Medicine (1996).
After a 40-year career in medicine at the University of Michigan, Nesse moved to Arizona State University in 2014 to found the Center for Evolution and Medicine. He retired from teaching during Covid but continues as a Research Professor. The International Society for Evolution, Medicine & Public Health that he founded will have its 10th annual meeting this year. His current mission is to provide an evolutionary foundation for psychiatry. He is the author of Good Reasons for Bad Feelings: Insights from the Frontier of Evolutionary Psychiatry (2019).
Compiled and edited by Nelson Hubbell, Academy Village volunteer
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