Jenny Tung
Associate Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology
Appointments and Affiliations
- Associate Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology
- Associate Professor of Biology
- Faculty Research Scholar of DuPRI's Population Research Center
- Faculty Research Scholar of DuPRI's Center for Population Health & Aging
- Faculty Network Member of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences
- Affiliate of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society
Contact Information
- Office Location: 08 Bio Sci, Durham, NC 27708
- Office Phone: (919) 668-4912
- Email Address: jenny.tung@duke.edu
- Websites:
Education
- Ph.D. Duke University, 2010
Awards, Honors, and Distinctions
- Nomiated for Duke Postdoctoral Mentoring Award. Duke University. 2013
- Chicago Fellows Post-Doctoral Fellowship. University of Chicago. 2010
- Katherine Goodman Stern Dissertation Year Fellowship. Unknown. 2009
- Primate Genomics Initiative Graduate Student Fellowship. Duke University. 2009
Courses Taught
- BIOLOGY 293: Research Independent Study
- EVANTH 212FS: Evolution, Society, and Health in Comparative Perspective
- EVANTH 393: Research Independent Study
- EVANTH 702S: Concepts in Evolutionary Anthropology
- GENOME 212FS: Evolution, Society, and Health in Comparative Perspective
In the News
- These Baboons Borrowed a Third of Their Genes From Their Cousins (Aug 2, 2022)
- A Male Baboon’s Dominance Gives Him Babies, but Costs Him Years (Apr 6, 2021)
- Learning From Our Closest Relatives (Feb 18, 2021)
- Fundamental Concepts: Primate Evolution's Tangled Tree (Sep 16, 2020)
- How Status Sticks to Genes (Oct 15, 2019)
- Duke's Jenny Tung Wins $625k MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant (Sep 25, 2019)
- Baboon Sexes Differ in How Social Status Gets 'Under the Skin' (Dec 17, 2018)
- Jenny Tung Wants to Know How Social Stresses Mess With Genes (Sep 26, 2018 | Science News)
- Researchers Win $1.2M to Study Social Mobility in Meerkats (Mar 23, 2017)
- Upward Mobility Boosts Immunity in Monkeys (Nov 24, 2016)
- Like humans, baboons with tough childhoods die earlier (Apr 25, 2016 | The Washington Post)
- For baboons, a tough childhood can lead to a short life (Apr 20, 2016 | Smithsonian)
- Rough Childhoods Have Ripple Effects for Baboons (Apr 14, 2016)
- Two Junior Faculty Named 2016 Sloan Fellows (Feb 22, 2016)
- Being Born in Lean Times Is Bad News for Baboons (Apr 2, 2015)
- Study finds baboon friends regularly swap gut germs (Mar 17, 2015 | UPI)
- Baboon Friends Swap Gut Germs (Mar 16, 2015)
- Having a boyfriend can make you live longer (at least if you're a baboon) (Sep 17, 2014 | DAILY MAIL)
- The Week at Duke {in 60 Seconds}: Baboon Friendships; 1,000th Heart Transplant (Sep 11, 2014)
- Lady Baboons With Guy Pals Live Longer (Sep 10, 2014)
Representative Publications
- Weibel, CJ; Tung, J; Alberts, SC; Archie, EA, Accelerated reproduction is not an adaptive response to early-life adversity in wild baboons., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol 117 no. 40 (2020), pp. 24909-24919 [10.1073/pnas.2004018117] [abs].
- Sanz, J; Maurizio, PL; Snyder-Mackler, N; Simons, ND; Voyles, T; Kohn, J; Michopoulos, V; Wilson, M; Tung, J; Barreiro, LB, Social history and exposure to pathogen signals modulate social status effects on gene regulation in rhesus macaques., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol 117 no. 38 (2020), pp. 23317-23322 [10.1073/pnas.1820846116] [abs].
- Anderson, JA; Vilgalys, TP; Tung, J, Broadening primate genomics: new insights into the ecology and evolution of primate gene regulation., Current Opinion in Genetics & Development, vol 62 (2020), pp. 16-22 [10.1016/j.gde.2020.05.009] [abs].
- Snyder-Mackler, N; Burger, JR; Gaydosh, L; Belsky, DW; Noppert, GA; Campos, FA; Bartolomucci, A; Yang, YC; Aiello, AE; O'Rand, A; Harris, KM; Shively, CA; Alberts, SC; Tung, J, Social determinants of health and survival in humans and other animals., Science (New York, N.Y.), vol 368 no. 6493 (2020) [10.1126/science.aax9553] [abs].