Victoria Gibbon (Assistant Professor)
Dr. Victoria Gibbon is an Assistant Professor in Biological and Forensic Anthropology from 2013 at the University of New Brunswick. Her research and teaching interests are primarily in biological anthropology, forensics, and bioarchaeology. She uses biological indicators from the skeleton to understand past human societies; their biology, migration patterns, health, culture and subsistence practices. She earned her PhD in 2008 from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. Her dissertation was based on the development of novel molecular sex determination methods optimal for human forensic and archaeological skeletal remains. These published methods use micro-fluidic gel technology to provide a simple and effective technique of molecular sex determination.
Since the completion of her PhD, she has conducted research as a postdoctoral fellow. Her initial position was to conduct research on the genetics of colorectal cancer (supported by the Wits Health Consortium). Wherein, she examined the relationship between genes and their role in colorectal cancer metastasis. She was also involved in the examination of epigenetic mechanisms and their role in human disease processes on a geographically isolated chondroplasia: Mseleni Joint Disease. This rare condition only affects people in an isolated region of South Africa and despite various avenues of research its etiology remains unknown. This project is designed to better understand the genetics of this health condition in attempt to produce genetic targets for treatment and prevention. Summer 2013 as part of an international collaboration Victoria is going to South Africa to continue her research on Mseleni Joint Disease. For more on this condition see the Mseleni Joint Disease research link below.
Bioarchaeology is the study of human biological remains from archaeological sites with an understanding of their past culture systems, thus, a biocultural approach should be used. This is Victoria’s current research focus; she initiated and maintains an international collaboration on bioarchaeological analyses of human samples from around the world. This research is focused on Iron and Bronze Age human skeletal remains from southern Africa (2000 BP, South Africa and Zambia), North Africa (3500-3000 BP, northern Sudan) and northern China (3000-1600 BP, near Beijing). She began this research while a post-doctoral fellow at the University of the Witwatersrand (2009), collecting the data from southern Africa and China; subsequently at Purdue University (2010-2011), she collected the Nubian data from North Africa for this project. This research has two main aims one is to look at health and disease indicators from the skeleton and teeth; the other is based on morphological and metrical examination of human skeletal remains. For more information on these projects see her research links below.
Dr. Gibbon’s diverse background and training in the anatomical, medical and anthropological sciences and her ability to apply anthropological concepts to a medico-legal context will allow her to expand her forensic research at UNB. This will provide research opportunities for students that include forensic anthropology specific to the province, and to expand this with her established connections in South Africa.
Courses Taught:
- ANTH1001 The Human Experience: Socio-Cultural Approaches
- ANTH1002 The Human Body: Biological Approaches
- ANTH3520 Bones: The Human Skeleton
- ANTH3523 Applying Forensic Anthropology
- ANTH4602 Anthropology and Genetics
- ANTH4522 Human Evolution
- Mseleni Joint Disease
- Bioarchaeological study on Isamu Pati and Ingombe Ilede Iron Age human skeletons
- Human variation in the Holocene
Contact Information:
Office: Annex C, Rm. 27
Phone: (506) 458-7994
Fax: (506) 453-5071
