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Charles L Nunn

Gosnell Family Professor in Global Health
Evolutionary Anthropology

Research Interests


Charles Nunn addresses a wide range of questions at the intersection of ecology, evolution, and health. These include projects on infectious disease, evolutionary medicine, and the ecology and evolution of sleep.

Many of Nunn’s research projects involve large-scale informatics datasets, including phylogenetic comparative studies and meta-analyses. Other projects involve field research in rural Madagascar. Yet other projects aim to model ecological or evolutionary phenomena, such as disease transmission. All of the projects involve quantitative approaches rooted in phylogenetics, networks, epidemiology, and spatial analyses.

Nunn’s research has implications for human health, conservation of biodiversity, and the connections between humans, animals and the environment (One Health). His research also informs studies of human evolution.

Research support for activities in the Nunn Lab is provided by the NIH, NSF, and other funding agencies.

Selected Grants


US-Israel Collab: Market Integration, Land Use, and Pathogen Transmission in Rural Madagascar

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2023 - 2028

Risk factor analysis and dynamic response for epidemics in heterogeneous populations

ResearchCo-Principal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2024 - 2027

Doctoral Dissertation Research: Human mobility and infectious disease transmission in the context of market integration

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2024 - 2026

The Impact of Land Use Change on Transmission Potential Networks and Disease Spread in Rural Madagascar

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2019 - 2025

PIPP Phase I

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2022 - 2025

Does market integration contribute to the burden of cardiovascular disease in northeast Madagascar?

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Sigma Xi · 2024 - 2024

Evolutionary Medicine Summer Institute (EMSI)

ConferencePrincipal Investigator · Awarded by North Carolina Biotechnology Center · 2024 - 2024

Evolutionary Medicine summer Institute

ConferencePrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Burroughs Wellcome Fund · 2022 - 2022

Evolutionary Medicine Summer Institute (EMSI)

ConferencePrincipal Investigator · Awarded by North Carolina Biotechnology Center · 2022 - 2022

Evolutionary Medicine Summer Institute (EMSI) 2020

ConferencePrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Burroughs Wellcome Fund · 2020 - 2020

Evolutionary Medicine Summer Institute

ConferencePrincipal Investigator · Awarded by American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation · 2019 - 2019

One Health Innovation Fellowships for Zoonotic Disease Research in Mongolia

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2013 - 2019

Doctoral Dissertation Research: Drought, Dehydration, and Disease: Water as a Selective Pressure in the Evolution of Primate Behavior

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2016 - 2019

Collaborative Research: The Role of Watering Holes in Concentrating Parasites in a Changing Climate

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2016 - 2019

2018 Evolutionary Medicine Summer Institute Workshop

ConferencePrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Burroughs Wellcome Fund · 2018 - 2018

A Cleanup for Survival: Effects of Tourist Waste Management on Gelada Monkey Health in the Simien Mountains National Park, Ethiopia

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Primate Conservation, Inc. · 2016 - 2018

Mining the Gaps: Integrating Primate Comparative Biology and Human Evolution

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2014 - 2018

TriCEM Showcase

ConferencePrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Burroughs Wellcome Fund · 2017 - 2018

Triangle Center for Evolutionary Medicine (TriCEM) Showcase

ConferencePrincipal Investigator · Awarded by North Carolina Biotechnology Center · 2017 - 2018

Impacts of Water Scarcity on the Behavior of Red-Fronted lemurs (Eulemur rufifrons) in Western Madagascar

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Margot Marsh Biodiversity Foundation · 2016 - 2017

Impacts of Water Scarcity on the Behavior of Red-fronted Lemurs (Eulemur rufifrons) in Western Madagascar

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Primate Conservation, Inc. · 2016 - 2017

Drivers of Disease in Primates: The Case of the Bulging Parasitic Cysts in Gelada Monkeys (Theropithecus gelada)

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Margot Marsh Biodiversity Foundation · 2014 - 2017

Annual Meeting of the International Society for Evolution, Medicine and Public Health

ConferencePrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Burroughs Wellcome Fund · 2016 - 2016

Annual Meeting of the International Society for Evolution, Medicine and Public Health

ConferencePrincipal Investigator · Awarded by American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation · 2016 - 2016

Triangle Center for Evolutionary Medicine

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of North Carolina - General Administration · 2015 - 2016

Doctoral Dissertation Research: A Comparative Study of Primate Socioecology and Intersexual Conflict

ResearchCo-Principal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 1997 - 1999