A quarterly newsletter of the W.
Montague Cobb Research Laboratory, Howard University
VOL. 4 ISSUE 4 EDITOR: Dr. Fatimah Jackson
CRL researchers identify hidden
cardiovascular disease in an historic
population by looking at rib notching
Over the summer, three medical students from Howard
University College of Medicine, Shihyun Kim, Kesley
Green and, our own, Nicholas Guthrie, embarked on a
new project on the Cobb Collection aimed at identifying
hidden hypertension in this unique collection. Their pro-
ject began as an investigation of rib notching as an indi-
cator for hypertension and other cardiovascular diseas-
es. As the project progressed, they found that the rib
notching also showed some correlation with heart dis-
ease in the Cobb Collection individuals. These prelimi-
nary findings were presented on a research poster at an
internal session at the Howard University College of
Medicine in the last week of May, and the trio plans to
continue the project over the school year with additional
support from CRL researchers.****
HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS ISSUE
DNA Collection updates!
CRL researchers identify unique approach to
see hypertension in a skeletal population
New molecular insights on tuberculosis dis-
covered in the Cobb Collection
ABG grave soil yields unique chemical signa-
tures
Cobb Research Lab expands summer out-
reach programs
Backbones to Life Series takes off with 4 new
stories
Editors Essay: What to do about our horrific
past?
SUMMER 2017
Chris Cross team identifies new molecular
insights on tuberculosis in the Cobb Collection
For his dissertation research, doctoral student Christopher Cross and
his team have developed a novel computational pipeline to recover and
identify the microbial content using DNA extracted and sequenced from
19th and 20th century African American teeth and petrous bones. Over
the summer his team successfully identified numerous bacterial spe-
cies in these samples. Among those observed were several species of
tuberculosis, including human Mycobacterium tuberculosis. These find-
ings provide a molecular level diagnosis which in some cases verify the
clinical cause of death. To our knowledge, no one has successfully
conducted this type of work on non-modern highly contaminable hu-
man skeletal remains of African Americans. His team is very excited
about these results and are currently performing additional analysis.
Coding of DNA Collection Surveys Completed
Over the summer, Masters student Taiye Winful (UNC-Charlotte)
(pictured below) led a Howard University team that completed the coding
of all of the 464 surveys collected during our recent DNA Collection
event. The purpose of this initial coding was to lay a foundation for the
development of two databases: 1. a Continental African Genomic Data-
base (CAGD) and 2. an African Diasporic Genomic Database (ADGD).
She and her team have now begun a descriptive analysis of the sur-
veys that will address the following questions:
1) How many individuals were in each database location (CAGD vs
ADGD)?
2) What were the proportions of Howard University community members
sampled?
3) What were the gender distributions in each database?
4) What was the place of birth of participants? What geographical areas
are not yet represented?
5) What are the nationalities and ethnicities of participants?
6) What is the average age of participants and the range in ages?
7) What is the current residential state of participants? Which states are
missing in our distribution?
These descriptive results will be incorporated
into Taiyes Masters thesis and provide a ra-
tionale for subsequent targeted sampling in the
fall and winter to augment the developing data-
bases. Taiye hopes to come to Howard Universi-
ty for graduate studies for her Ph.D. in biology in
2018****
READ MORE UPDATES ON OUR GRADUATE
STUDENTS RESEARCH IN THE FOLLOWING
PAGES OF THIS ISSUE
CRL News, vol 4, no 4, Summer 2017
 Carter Clintons team uncovers unique chemical In addition, to comparing the results of our UMD XRF to
signatures in African Burial Ground grave soils NIST reference material, we have reached out to Dr.
Richard Shaw, USDA state soil scientist, who has per-
Throughout the 2017 summer months, Howard University Ph.D. stu- formed a soil survey of New York City. These data can
dent Carter Clinton (pictured on the right) has conducted an ongoing be considered control samples used for comparison with
investigation of New York African Burial Ground grave soil samples. the NYABG samples. Carter and his team will be able to
Specifically, he has looked into the elemental analysis of these sam- determine baseline levels of elements in the soil as well
ples . Carter has been fortunate to run these data at the University of as significant levels of elements in the ABG soil. This
Maryland, College Park under the direction of expert soil chemist and comparison will provide insight in to what activities were
lecturer, Dr. Candice Duncan. The investigation consists of using x-ray performed by the inhabitants in the area. From this, we
fluorescence (XRF) technology, a non-destructive exploratory technol- can reconstruct events occurring during the 17th and
ogy, to identify all elements present in a sample. The methodology 18th centuries in lower Manhattan. ****
calls for a small amount of required sample (2 grams) to be com-
pressed into pellet form with a binding agent that wont interfere with
analysis, in this case, urea. The small sample mass is carefully con-
Carter Clinton
sidered because the quantity of these grave soils are extremely lim- stands outside
ited. The remaining portion of each sample can then be used in other the NIST head-
important analyses as well as for archival purposes. quarters in Mary-
land. Carter is
The data generated from the XRF device is compared with several the recipient of
NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) SRMs research funding
(Standard Reference Materials). After purchasing an initial SRM, from Sigma Xi,
Carter and Dr. Duncan reached out to NIST for background infor- National Geo-
mation of the standard. This conversation and the interest in the graphic Explor-
NYABG project prompted an invitation for the two, to the NIST ers, and is a Just
-Julian Fellow at
Gaithersburg facility as well as a donation of four additional SRMs to
Howard Univer-
contribute toward the research. While at the NIST facility, Dr. John
sity.
Sieber, ran an analysis of the grave soil sample on their government
regulated XRF device and has extended an invitation to Carter to re-
turn in the future to run the remaining samples on this equipment. This
opportunity will validate and verify that the results obtained from the
XRF device at UMD are accurate. (continued on next column)

Writers Collective continues summer output of childrens stories on the African Burial
Ground population in Backbones to Life Series
In the Spring 2017 semester, Howard Universitys Cobb Research Laboratory founded a new branch to the research team known as
the Writers Collective. One aspect of this collective is to write fictional short stories for young readers depicting the lives of those bur-
ied in the New York African Burial Ground (ABG) in what was named the Backbones To Life Series. Each story is based on scientific
findings from the skeletal remains and archaeological findings, as published in the Cobb Research Lab NYABG Collection of Scholarly
Volumes (see our website: www.cobbresearchlab.com). The ABG burial ground was the final resting place for thousands of enslaved
and free Africans in what is now modern-day Lower Manhattan, New York City. The site was also used by some poor Europeans dur-
ing the 17th and 18th centuries. Nutritional stress, infectious disease, and osteoarthritis plagued the majority of the people interned
there. It is our mission to recount their stories using the technical findings from the ABG project and add historic information from the
time period as the foundation for these stories. We want our young readers to understand the connections between the ailments of our
protagonists, the conditions in which they lived, and the resources they used to survive.
STEM and history also play a role in creation of the stories. Though works of fiction, the stories retain accurate scientific and historical
information. A time warp from present-day scientific research on a specific burial ground site to a specific year between 1600-1800
occurs in the beginning of each story. We aim to promote both an interest in the STEM fields and provide an educational experience for
the reader.
There remains a growing need for these types of books aimed towards young children. The population as a whole in this country has
been traditionally educated on the history of slavery as solely an institution of the American South. However, New York City was the
second-largest slave holding colony in early America, second only to Charleston, South Carolina. In fact, New York was the last north-
ern colony to abolish slavery in 1827. Often, textbooks and our school system tend to downplay the brutal conditions of enslavement
and the lingering effects that it still has on our lives today. Due to these failures, young people often do not learn about this unless they
choose to pursue the information on their own. The Backbones to Life series introduces readers to a segment of American history, via
characters who use traditional knowledge and insights from various regions of Africa and the Americas together with science and com-
mon sense to solve the problems they face. (Report continued on next page)

CRL News, vol 4, no 4, Summer 2017

 Writers Collective continues summer output of childrens stories on the African Burial
Ground population in Backbones to Life Series (continued)
Howard University students in the CRL who participate as writers have an opportunity to tap into their creative side, which is often
neglected when pursuing an education in the natural and physical sciences. This summer, students in the Writers Collective partici-
pated in community outreach to teach creative writing to K-12. In June and July, undergraduate and high school students of the Pre-
Pharmacy summer enrichment program joined CRL for an all-day creative writing workshop accompanied by an anatomy lesson using
bones from the Cobb Collection as visual aids. CRL also hosted AME Zions STEM Summer Camp in July where young children age
five to ten had a day filled with science experiments, anatomy lessons, and a Backbones to Life storybook reading. Their feedback
has helped in series story creation. Additionally, SHPEP and General Electrics Girls, Inc. programs were at CRL this summer and
attendees participated in similar biological science and creative writing activities. We hope to continue these efforts next year to clients
who support our mission.
Leaders in the Backbones to Life Series include new graduate student (George Mason University) Mariam Mohammed and current
Howard University undergraduate student Adetomiwa Victor Owoseni, both pictured below. We are very proud of their efforts, enthusi-
asm, and leadership on this project. ****
CRL Researchers Mariam Mo-
hammed and Adetomiwa Victor
Owoseni lead the team of writ-
ers for the Backbones to Life
Series of Childrens books on BACKBONES TO LIFE
the African Burial Ground Na-
Childrens Book Series
tional Monument. Mariam will
begin a pre-medical Masters
program in the Fall 2017 at
George Mason University and
Victor ,a double major in biology
and English, has been asked to
write for National Geographic.

GE Girls, Inc. Visit The W. Montague Cobb Research Lab

On July 13th, 2017, 30 GE Girls visited the W. Montague Cobb Research Laboratory (CRL) at Howard Uni-
versity. They were met in Douglass Hall by Dr. Fatimah L. C. Jackson, Professor of Biology and Director of
the CRL, as well as a diverse team of students associated with the CRL. The team included Howard Uni-
versity medical students Nicholas Guthrie and Shihyun Kim, Howard University graduate student Esohe
Irabor, University of North Carolina Charlotte graduate student Taiye Winful and Howard University post-
baccalaureate student (and new graduate student) Mariam Mohammed.
The GE Girls program was created in 2011 to address the underrepresentation of women in science, tech-
nology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and STEM-based fields. Their approach is to foster and
maintain the interest of women in STEM via early exposure to STEM-based programs, lectures, experiments, and field trips. The CRL
was honored to assist in furthering the in the mission of GE Girls by serving as a STEM exposure site.
The day began with an address from Dr. Fatimah Jackson, who briefly shared the history of the CRL and the value of the free work-
shop that the girls were about to participate in. She urged them to consider careers in the STEM field as they participated in the work-
shop. This address was followed by the GE Girls student introductions and a pre-survey. The 30 girls were then split into three
groups and sent to either the strawberry DNA extraction session, the anatomy lab session, or the creative writing lab session.
In the Strawberry DNA Extraction Session, the GE Girls extracted DNA from strawberries. The girls were led through the experiment
in a step-wise fashion by Taiye (Last Name?), and many of them were able to extract DNA (picture). After cleaning up, the GE Girls
received a simple de-brief lesson led by Esohe Irabor, to make sure that they understood the experiment. Highlights of the de-brief
included what DNA was, where DNA is located, and an explanation of how the materials in the experiment (detergent, salt, etc.)
helped to make the DNA visible to us.
In the Anatomy Lab Session, the GE Girls examined some of the skeletal remains from the Cobb Collection (CC) that were originally
interred in the New York African Burial Ground (NYABG). Nicholas Guthrie and Shihyun Kim taught the girls the scientific names of
various bones in the body. They identified skeletal abnormalities in the specimens and provided commentary on the diseases associ-
ated with them.
In the Creative Writing Lab Session, the GE Girls got to be members of the CRLs Backbones to Life Writers Collective for a day.
Under the direction of Miriam Mohammed and Esohe Irabor, the girls accessed their imaginations to create fictional, but scientifically-
valid and historically-credible stories. To do this, each group was provided with actual anatomical and biographical information about
select individuals in the New York African Burial Ground (ABG). They then incorporated this information into their stories and shared
them with other groups.
At the end of the workshop, the GE girls were given a post-survey to ask them about their experiences. Overall, the feedback was
positive for each of the sessions, but it seems that the GE Girls liked the Strawberry DNA Extraction session the most.****
CRL News, vol 4, no 4, Summer 2017
Gretchen Johnson Team moves forward Collaboration with University of Toronto yields
with Liberated African Project new anatomical technique

This summer 2017, Gretchen In May 2017 , doctoral students, Gretchen Johnson and Christo-
Johnson, (pictured on left) pher Cross (pictured below) traveled to the University of Toronto.
Ph.D. student at the CRL has Through a collaboration with Dr. Anne Agur and her research team
been working steadily on pro- at the University of Toronto, Canada, they developed a new tech-
gressing on her doctoral re- nique to retrieve the petrous bone from the human skull with mini-
search on the historic popula- mal damage. This technique and others are planned to be utilized
tion of Africans deposited on St. on the African skeletal remains on St. Helena to obtain the most
Helena Island (South Atlantic). usable quantities of high quality DNA from the remains of each
Her research is focused on as- individual. Christopher Cross may also use this technique in his
sessing the human skeletal research on tuberculosis. Special thanks to Dr. Agur and the Uni-
remains of previously enslaved versity of Toronto for this new collaboration with the Cobb Re-
mid-19th century Africans who search Laboratory. ****
were liberated by British anti-
slavery efforts, but subsequent-
ly died on the South Atlantic Group Picture
island. She is combining forensic and molecular genomic of University of
analyses, and archaeological/historical contexts to recon- Toronto collab-
struct a snapshot of the lives and surrounding environment orators (right to
of the mid-19th century individuals originally buried at Saint left) Christo-
Helena. These results will then be compared with data from pher Cross,
the enslaved individuals from the 17th and 18th century New MSc., Gretchen
York African Burial Ground (ABG).
Johnson, MSc.,
Dr. Anne Agur,
Through a recent collaboration with Christopher Cross, Dr. PhD., Ian Bell.,
Anne Agur and her research team at the University of Toron- MSc.
to, Canada, a new technique was designed to retrieve the
petrous bone from the human skull with minimal damage.
This technique and others will be utilized on the African skel-
etal remains on St. Helena to obtain the most usable quanti-
Two CRL researchers present at Society of
ties of high quality DNA from the remains of each individual. Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE)
Data gathered will allow for human identification and ances-
tral origins of this historic population on St. Helena. Current- Conference in July 2017
ly, Gretchen is practicing techniques for the accurate and
prompt retrieval of the petrous bone in the Anatomy Lab at In July, doctoral students, Gretchen Johnson
Howard University. and Njlaa Bakhsh (pictured on left) attended
the Society of Molecular Biology and Evolution
She is looking forward to traveling to St. Helena Island (SMBE) Conference in Austin, Texas. Gretch-
(South Atlantic) this upcoming fall to begin collecting the en presented her research entitled
petrous bone from the skeletal remains of the historic popu- Reconstruction of early population history
lation of liberated Africans. She is motivated to further her of Africans in the Americas through St.
research with more investigations to unravel St. Helenas
Helena Island (South Atlantic) and New
central place in the Slave Trade, a history rarely acknowl-
edged. To assist with the memorialization efforts in St. Hele- York City and Njlaa presented her research
na, Gretchen will be creating a GoFundMe webpage to raise entitled The Missing landscape of human
monetary funds. Stay tuned for an update on this new genomic diversity in the Arabian Peninsu-
webpage and information on how you can help! la. Both
poster
In July, Gretchen presented a poster on her research pro- presenta-
gress at the Society of Molecular Biology and Evolution tions were
(SMBE) Conference in Austin, Texas. Also, she attended the
Penn State University Bootcamp on Reproducible Research. well re-
This Bootcamp reinforced key concepts in Bioinformatics ceived. Gretchen and Njlaa
and Statistics which will be incorporated into the analyses of enjoyed visiting interesting ses-
the skeletal remains of the liberated Africans deposited on sions and talks that ranged from
St. Helena Island. ancient DNA studies, epigenet-
ics, molecular innovation, evolu-
The Howard University Institutional Review Board has re- tionary genomics, human ge-
cently approved Gretchens research on the skeletal remains
netics and gene regulation.
on St. Helena Island and she has been awarded research
funding from National Geographic and a Just-Julian Fellow- Also, both were able to connect
ship.**** with collaborators from the Uni-
versity of Copenhagen and net-
PLEASE CONSIDER DONATING TO THE work with other researchers and
COBB RESEARCH LABORATORY TO attendees at the conference.
SUPPORT STUDENT RESEARCH. Overall, it was a great, enrich-
ing experience.****
CRL News, vol 4, no 4, Summer 2017
CRL Expands Summer K-12 Outreach
The Cobb Research Lab values development and enrichment of interdis-
ciplinary interest in students who have the potential to excel in the fields
of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. As a part of that
mission, the lab hosted all-day workshops in science and creative writing
for five community organizations this summer that support minorities in
the STEM fields as a part of our community outreach efforts. In total, we
hosted 151 students from kindergarten to undergraduate level in the
months of June and July.
In June, eighteen Pre-Pharmacy undergraduates came to Douglass Hall
where we engaged them in a history lesson followed by creative writing
workshop based on the Cobb Research Labs two skeletal collections;
The Cobb Collection and The New York African Burial Ground (ABG)
Collection. As the only historically black college with skeletal collections,
we pride ourselves on having over 400 years of African American history
in the form of these remains which affords us the possibility of ground-
breaking research on campus. Earlier this year, the lab founded the Writ-
ers Collective, a collaborative project to write short stories and bio-
histories based on scientific findings from these collections. As an exten-
sion of the Writers Collective, the writing workshop aimed to educate the
students on the historical context of the ABG and give an opportunity to
strengthen creative writing skills. The ABG was a burial site for free and
enslaved Africans and African Americans in 17th and 18th century New
York colony, which has significant long-lasting relevance to the infra-
structure, economy, and culture of this country. From an examination of
the past, we encouraged students to reflect on what it may have been
like to live and die in colonial New York as someone whose remains now
rest in one of the ABG burial site numbers. The undergraduates, who
plan to pursue careers in medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, and veterinary
medicine, created detailed outlines of short stories after being assigned
information on an anonymous individual from the burial site. Some stu-
dents were particularly excited for the chance to engage their creative
side, and even had one student interested in joining the Writers Collec-
In the photo above, Victor Owoseni encourages elementary student creativi-
ty during a session promoting scientific writing. Victor Owoseni and Miriam
Mohammed led the Writers Collective in the Backbones to Life childrens
book series for the National Park Service. Pictures to the right show individu-
al children working on their human anatomy projects this summer at
Douglass Hall.
In July, we had 27 elementary school children age five
through ten from the Beth Shalom AME Zion Church STEM
Summer camp. The children were treated to an all-day
workshop of science activities. First, we had them do a
biological experiment to extract DNA from strawberries.
The students learned the simple technique which produces
separation in the strawberry matter, with a clear portion in
which the DNA strands are visible to the naked eye. This is
a particularly fun experiment which gained interest amongst
the young children. Second, we showed them a skeletal
body from the Cobb Collection and taught basic human
skeletal anatomy. The children had a chance to ask ques-
tions as they examined the bony structures that make the
human bodys structural foundation. Lastly, we read a sam-
ple short story from the Writers Collective that described
the narrative of a young boy working on the docks of the
Hudson Bay in 17th century New York.
Also this month, we hosted 30 middle school and high
school aged girls from the General Electric Girls, Inc pro-
gram. (see article on previous page). We taught similar
DNA extraction from strawberries, skeletal anatomy, and
creative writing. Another 30 high schoolers from a Pre-
Pharmacy group participated in an anatomy study. These
two groups were a pleasure to host as they were interested
in the science and were passionate about careers in vari-
ous fields of study.
At the end of each all-day workshop, we surveyed learning
objectives to quantify success of the outreach initiatives.
We were happy to learn that many of the students were
excited to have the opportunity to examine skeletal re-
mains, participate in collaborative creative writing, and per-
form a simple scientific experiment with basis in biology
and genetics. The Cobb Research Lab looks forward to
ongoing partnerships with the community at large to extend
and support the advancement of STEM in minority groups
that may often be limited to opportunities elsewhere. ****
CRL News, vol 4, no 4, Summer 2017
 Undergraduate Summer Health Professions Education Program students
listening to Dr. Fatimah Jackson and Mr. Nicholas Guthrie
discuss research opportunities at CRL

CRL provides summer research support for

the Summer Health Professions Education
Program (SHPEP)
Over the past few years, the CRL has collaborated with the
SMDEP, now SHPEP, program to introduce pre-health profes-
sional college students to research in a major way. This year, 46
SHPEP scholars elected to participate in our research program
with the Cobb Collection. This began with a tour of the CRL and
an assignment to a specific Cobb Collection individual (CCI) on
whom they would complete a biohistory. This biohistory is a deep
dive into the demographics, life, death, and cause of death of the
CCI. Using a myriad of resources, the SHPEP students worked in
pairs to reconstruct the story of one of their first patients. In addi-
tion, they had a guided look at the skeletal remains of their CCI,
looking for anatomical markers of their pathology and lifestyles,
led by Christopher Cross, Gretchen Johnson. At the end of their 4
-week experience with the CRL, each of the scholars received a
certificate of meritorious research at the SHPEP closing ceremo-
ny. We plan to publish the best of these research reports in our
annual scientific journal, The Backbone. ****

Biomedical Advances
Our 2016 publication on 400 Years of Biological History of
African Americans (published in the American Journal of Hu-
man Biology) has been selected as the Editors Pick for Bio-
medical Advances (ISSN 2573-0355).

CRL News, vol 4, no 4, Summer 2017

Cancer in Historic African American popula-
tion explored by CRL researchers
Research associates and assistants at the Cobb Research Lab
met over the summer to form a specialized team. Their goal
was investigate various forms of cancer in the Cobb Collection.
The reason for these studies was that Cancer continues to be
a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the African Ameri-
can community but insights into the types and incidence of can-
cer 85 years ago have been virtually non-existent. Historical
information on cancer were hypothesized to shed light on cur-
rent health disparities, particularly among African Americans.
The aims of this groups study were to: 1) assess the frequen-
cies of the cancer types present among Cobb Collection individ-
uals; 2) compare these data with current research on cancer in
African Americans; and 3) evaluate the pattern of cancer ex-
pression as a cause of death between 1931-1969 in an historic
African American subgroup and compare this pattern with the
historic and contemporary patterns of cancer etiology and inci-
dence.
To conduct their study, Systematic assessments of the existing
clinical, demographic, and anatomical records in the Cobb Re-
search Laboratory were made of individuals identified as dying
from specific cancers from 1931-1969. These were compared
with the national profiles of cancer during the historic time an
individual died as well as the contemporary patterns of cancer
deaths.
17 different cancer types were found within 28 individuals of
the Cobb Collection between 1931 and 1969. The cancer types
with the highest frequencies were carcinoma of stomach, lung,
esophagus, larynx and bronchogenic carcinoma. 84% of all
cancer incidents occurred in males and 76% were among indi-
viduals identified as African American. 71% of the highest inci-
dence cancers were among African American males.
WWW.COBBRESEARCHLAB.COM
REDESIGNED CRL WEBSITE SHOWS
GROWTH AND INCREASED READERSHIP!
Website Statistics
Total sessions 8840 (Up 16.8% YoY)
Total unique users 6306 (Up 43% YoY)
Total page views 16725
86% of visitors are from the US and 14% from 125 countries
( #2 Saudi Arabia, #3 Philippines, #4 Canada, #5 France)
70% Desktop traffic, 26% Mobile traffic, 4% tablet traffic
70 % of visitors were new to the site, Year over Year
30 day active users 63% of users have returned to the web-
site at least once a month
Most popular page The Backbone Issue 2 Average Cranium/
Brain Size of Homo neanderthalensis vs. Homo sapiens by
Carter Clinton with 1370 unique page views and average read
time of 4:54 min
Before redesign average loading time w 12 sec vs 8 sec
after redesign
Bounce rate decreased to 72.24% (the percentage of visitors
to a particular website who navigate away from the site after
viewing only one page, meaning our front page is more engag-
ing!)
Acquisition 67% from Google search, 23% directly to the site,
8% referred from another site, and 2% from email and social
links ****
(Thanks to Nicholas Guthrie for providing these statistics and
redesigning and maintaining the CRL website in Summer 2017.)

The teams results provide historical depth to our knowledge of

the common cancer causes of morbidity among African Ameri-
cans of Washington DC from 1931-1969. They contrasted
these findings with national historical data on cancer etiology
Are you interested in becoming a researcher
and ethnic disparities in incidence. Their study suggests that
historic data can provide longitudinal depth to our understand- at the Cobb Research Laboratory?
ing of the persistence of cancer susceptibilities in a vulnerable If so, come to our Fall Orientation Session.
subgroup.

A manuscript will be submitted on this research to the highly ORIENTATION

regarded Frontiers in Oncology as part of a special issue on FOR STUDIES IN
cancer in ethnically diverse populations. A second cancer
paper is underway to explore the geospatial incidence of spe- THE
cific cancers in this historic population. It is also hoped that
their explorations of cancer in this unique population will catch
COBB RESEARCH
the attention of funders at the National Cancer Institute. LABORATORY
Members of the Cancer1 and/or Cancer2 Teams include: Dr. Friday, September 1, 2017, noon
Latifa Jackson, Ms. Rita Okolo, Dr. Hasan Jackson, Ms. Mari- 232 Douglass Hall (Cobb Research
am Mohammed, Mr. Nicholas Guthrie, Mr. Shihyun Kim, and Laboratory) and Blue and Red Labs
Dr. Fatimah Jackson. **** HOWARD UNIVERSITY

www.cobbresearchlab.com

CRL News, vol 4, no 4, Summer 2017

EDITORS ESSAY: What to do about our horrific past? (answer) Reclaim African American
ancestries for research, identity construction, and memorialization.
The recent, brazen public marches of avowed racists, Nazis, and white supremacists are not unheard of in American history. African
Americans (AA) have long lived in a country that has extolled our enemies, neglected our heroes, and fostered unpalatable versions
of history that minimize and distort our positive contributions (Gates 2011). What is the remedy? Are we to be left disempowered of
our own true history? Are we to be left wondering where we have come from? Why we suffer disproportionately from certain diseas-
es? Why we live shorter lives, compared to European Americans? While there are no guarantees that the removal of statues in honor
of the proponents of our ancestors enslavement and subjugation will improve contemporary intra-ethnic relations, it is likely that an
increase in knowledge of the African American past and the strategies used by our ancestors to foster resilience and survival can
benefit us today.
Among AA historically, detailed medical insights of past generations are not readily available or adequately studied (Byrd and Clay-
ton, 2000, Gamble 2010, Pohl 2012, Kenny 2013). The protection of precious bioarcheological remains and the history of African
Americans and their diasporas within the United States is amiss; no legal backing similar to the Native American Grave Protection
and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) is currently available to ensure and guarantee the safe-handling, respectful care, and transition of
power to descendants or the AA community (Leone et al 2005). No legislation exists to ensure that the systematic research on AA
skeletal and dental materials is undertaken to fill in the gaps in our understanding of the historical depths of the health disparities
currently afflicting African Americans. The sciences of biological anthropology and archaeology hold many promises of the discovery
of links and lineages in the past that can help us better understand the present medical demographics and aid the design of future
precision medical science (Halperin, 2004).
At the Cobb Research Laboratory (CRL) we have begun to embark on a project that we hope will provide federal and state legisla-
tion to protect African American skeletal and dental remains uncovered during the process of land development, road construction,
and other projects that disrupt the burial sites of these 16th-20th century individuals. Our goal is to secure these AA ancestral re-
mains for research, identification, and memorialization here at Howard University. The Cobb Collection, one of the major collections
in the Cobb Research Laboratory, provides an avenue to enrich the study of AA history scientifically, protect the legacy of past an-
cestry through the curation of the remains, and provide the necessary linkage between the past medical struggles within the AA com-
munity and the current health disparities. This may then allow researchers to find reasonable and appropriate solutions for the future
improvement in health. Adding to this collection is paramount for our improved research capacity. It is our goal to increase the num-
bers of individual remains housed in the CRL through the repatriation of AA skeletal and dental remains currently languishing in pri-
vate collections, abandoned unwanted in local universities, or relegated to the trash dumpsters at construction sites.
These individuals are an integral part of our past. We cannot correctly predict our future without reference to our past and current
status. Research on these ancestral remains, given the sophistication of contemporary scientific techniques and our current capabili-
ties (Jackson 2015), can reveal past susceptibilities that make us more prone today to some of the major causes of morbidity and
mortality among AAs. This knowledge can also help us understand why and how we are protected from disorders and diseases that
usually affect other human groups.
Access to AA ancestors for their research potentials is a way to honor their centrality to our current existence. From an analysis of
their biological histories we can reconstruct which geographical regions they came from, what were their mating patterns, what kinds
of stresses and constraints they faced, through their epigenome, what they ate, what diseases they were exposed to, and how much
of this legacy has been passed down to us. In this way, systematic research of AA skeletal and dental remains can lead to identifica-
tion and influence identity formation, which is the right of every ethnic group.
Finally, we have the right to memorialize those who came before us. The AA presence is under-referenced in the scientific and social
scientific literatures. Yet, we retain a tremendous debt to those who came before us, who survived the institutionalized injustices,
"made a way where there was none", and through a myriad of sacrifices, laid a solid foundation for our contemporary opportunities.
Fatimah L.C. Jackson, Ph.D., Professor of Biology and Director, W. Montague Cobb Research Laboratory, Howard University
REFERENCES CITED:
Byrd, W. M and Clayton, L.A. (2000) An American Health Dilemma: Race, Medicine, and Health Care in the United States 1900-2000
(volume 2)1st edition. ISBN-13:978-0415927376.
Gamble, V.N. (2010) "There wasn't a lot of comforts in those days:" African Americans, public health, and the 1918 influenza epidem-
ic. Public Health Rep. Apr;125 Suppl 3:114-22.
Gates, H.L (2011) Life Upon These Shores: Looking at African American History, 1513-2008 ISBN-13: 978-0307476852 Knopf Pub-
lisher, 512 pp.
Halperin, E. C. (2004). Paleo-oncology: the role of ancient remains in the study of cancer. Perspect Biol Med, 47(1), 1-14.
Jackson, F. L. (2015). The Cobb Collection: Current status and future research directions. Am J Hum Biol. doi:10.1002/ajhb.22705
Kenny, S.C. (2013) The development of medical museums in the antebellum American South: slae bodies in networks of anatomical
exchange. Bull Hist. Med 87(1):32-62 doi:10.1353/bhm.2013.0016.
Leone, M. P., Laroche C. J. & Babiar, J.J. The Archaeology Of Black Americans In Recent Times. Annual Review of Anthropology
34.1 (2005): 575-98. Print
Pohl, L.M. (2012) African American southerners and white physicians: medical care at the turn of the twentieth century. Bull Hist Med
86(2):178-205 (Summer)

CRL News, vol 4, no 4, Summer 2017

THROUGHOUT 2017: HAPPY 85TH ANNIVERSARY, COBB RESEARCH LAB!

Pictures from the 85th Anniversary Celebration May 2017

Members of the CRL Meet for an End-of-the-Year Dinner at Busboys & Poets
On the evening of August 27th, 2017, 13 members of the CRL
gathered at the Busboys & Poets restaurant on 5th and K St
NW DC for a celebratory dinner. They had worked hard the
past academic year and throughout the summer and had ac-
complished a great deal. This dinner was a thank-you pre-
sent from the CRL Director. Along with Dr. Fatimah Jackson,
present were post-docs Dr. Latifa Jackson (NIH and HU Col-
lege of Medicine) and Dr. Brad Wilson (HU College of Medi-
cine), and Howard University graduate students Esohe Irabor,
Gretchen Johnson and Carter Clinton. Also in attendance
were HU medical students Nicholas Guthrie and Shihyun Kim,
post-baccalaureates Rita Okolo, Cameron Clarke, and Mariam
Mohammed and HU undergraduates Adetomiwa Victor
Owoseni and Obinna Asawabelem. All are pictured to the left.
The party sat at a long table in the restaurant, and ordered
everything from vegetarian dishes to steak. CRL members
who had not previously met used this opportunity to do so.
Those who had travelled shared details about their journeys:
CRL News, vol 4, no 4, Summer 2017
Members of the CRL Meet for an End-of-the-Year Dinner at Busboys & Poets
(continued from previous page)
While some had gone overseas to Africa, Asia and Europe,
others had crossed the country for conferences or work-
shops in Texas, New York, and California. For many of the
CRL members, this was the first meeting that they had ever
had with so many other lab members outside the academic
setting. They enthusiastically talked about their hobbies and
experiences, and lit up when they found similarities
amongst themselves. For over an hour, CRL members
laughed over food, shared their sentiments about the past
academic year, and their hopes for the next one. At the end
of the night, CRL members took a group picture and dis-
banded, wishing each other success in their future endeav-
ors.****

Fall 2017 Schedule for CRL Regular Lab Meetings

and Scientific Literature Reviews:
8/17/2017, 8/31/2017, 9/14/2017, 9/28/2017,
10/12/2017, 10/26/2017,11/9/2017, 11/30/2017
4th floor Conference Room, HUIRB, 2201 Georgia
Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20059
11:00 am to 1:00 pm

Five CRL Researchers earn presentations at the

2017 European Society for Human Genetics meetings in Copenhagen.
From May 27th through May 30th 2017 the Cobb Research Lab
participated in the European Society for Human Genetics Meet-
ings in Copenhagen, Denmark. These annual meeting feature
novel research in human genetics projects. The meeting was an
opportunity to meet with Cobb Research Laboratory collabora-
tors from University of Copenhagen and The National Institute of
Health. Of particular interest was a conference session that fo-
cused on the genetics of underrepresented populations. Dr. Lati-
fa Jackson (pictured below) attended the meetings and present-
ed her work entitled Violence impacts allostatic load IgE and
Epstein Barr Virus levels in urban youth.

Five members of the research group had their work accepted for
presentation at this international conference: These included:
Dr. Fatimah Jackson, Gretchen Johnson, Christopher Cross,
Carter Clinton and Dr. Latifa Jackson. Their research covered a
diverse array of human genetics related projects including the
Cobb Collection genomic analyses, the forced migration of Afri-
cans in St. Helena Island (South Atlantic), the genomic analysis Dr. Latifa Jackson (left) officially represented the
of New York African Burial Ground grave soil samples, and the
Cobb Research Laboratory and Howard University at
role of genomic testing and its interpretation on African American
the 2017 European Society for Human Genetics
identity. ****
meetings. The electronic poster sessions (above)
provided a convenient and high-tech approach to
CRL News, vol 4, no 4, Summer 2017
information transfer.