Amanda Lea

Amanda (she/her) is the lab PI. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences.
Contact her at: amanda.j.lea@vanderbilt.edu

Rachel Petersen

Rachel (she/her) is an NSF SBE Postdoctoral Fellow in the Lea lab. Rachel’s research centers around how genetic and epigenetic variation influences aspects of reproduction, using non-human primates as a model for human evolution. Her dissertation research explored how genotype is associated with pre- and post-copulatory mate preference in the olive baboon. In the Lab lab, her research focuses on how early life environments are related to gene regulation using a multi-tissue dataset from the rhesus macaques of Cayo Santiago.
Contact her at: rachel.m.petersen@vanderbilt.edu

Marina Watowich

Marina Watowich (she/her) is an NIH T32 Postdoctoral Fellow in the Lea Lab. Marina’s research investigates how environmental and social adversities affect long-term health and immune system aging in humans and non-human primates. Her work also seeks to understand the factors that contribute to resilience in the face of adversity, as well as basic mechanisms of gene regulation. In the Lea Lab, Marina works primarily with the Turkana and Tsimane populations.
Contact her at: marina.watowich@vanderbilt.edu

Robert Tennyson

Robert Tennyson (he/him) is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Lea Lab. Robert investigates aging in humans as a biocultural phenomenon. His research explores how environmental, behavioral, and lifestyle changes impact health outcomes with age. His work seeks to connect lived experiences to demographic, molecular, and immunological processes. In the Lea Lab, Robert works primarily with the Orang Asli Health and Lifeways Project.
Personal website: robtennyson.org
Contact him at: robert.l.tennyson@vanderbilt.edu

Audrey Arner

Audrey (she/her) is an NSF Graduate Research Fellow in the Lea lab. She is interested in understanding human adaptation to diverse and changing ecological and cultural environments, as well as the underlying molecular mechanisms causally connecting genotype to phenotype. She is also passionate about community engagement and is committed to engaging in respectful, mutually beneficial partnerships with participant communities.​ Audrey's work focuses on the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia.
Contact her at: audrey.m.arner@vanderbilt.edu

Amy Longtin

Amy (she/her) is a graduate student in the Lea Lab. She is interested in how early life adversity impacts later life outcomes, particularly health outcomes, in human and nonhuman primate populations. By studying these connections, she hopes to identify the genomic and epigenomic mechanisms that embed lived experiences into lifelong physiology.
Contact her at: amy.l.longtin@vanderbilt.edu

Layla Brassington

​Layla (she/her) is a graduate student in the Lea Lab. She is interested in the way that environmental factors moderate the link between genotypes and key organismal phenotypes, such as health or life history-related traits. She is also interested in understanding the molecular intermediaries that are key players in creating these gene-by-environment interactions in diverse human populations.
Contact her at: layla.brassington@vanderbilt.edu

Nicholas Ryan

Nicholas is a Research Assistant in the Lea lab. With Grace, he ensures that research in the wet lab runs smoothly. He assists in the development, troubleshooting, and implementation of a wide range of genomic and molecular protocols.
Contact him at: nicholas.ryan@vanderbilt.edu​

Grace Rodenberg

Grace is also a Research Assistant in the Lea lab. With Nicholas, she ensures that research in the wet lab runs smoothly. She assists in the development, troubleshooting, and implementation of a wide range of genomic and molecular protocols.
Contact her at: grace.n.rodenberg@vanderbilt.edu

Undergraduate and high school students

Selina Wang (2023-present)
​Lisa Yang (2023-present)
Sabina Thabit-Yousef (2023-present)

Lab alumni

Ryan Rossow - 2022-2023 - undergraduate
​Peyton Coleman - 2023 - IGP graduate student (rotation)​
Jay Pardo - 2022 - BSCI graduate student (rotation)
Maggie Zhou - 2022 - undergraduate
Catherine Green - 2022 - IGP graduate student (rotation)
Luis Martinez - 2022 - BSCI graduate student (rotation)
Sai Han Presley - 2021-2022 - lab manager