Erica Kilius is a biological anthropologist whose research focuses on the roots of health inequities through both biocultural and public health perspectives. She uses mixed method approaches, integrating interview, survey, accelerometer, and environmental data to examine how health risks emerge and persist across our lifespans.

Her dissertation work examined how COVID-19 pandemic closures influenced short and long-term health risks in marginalized and immigrant communities in Peel Region, Ontario. She also examined the precursors of risk decision making in university students during the COVID-19 pandemic, applying an evolutionary lens to understand the affective component of early risk perception.

Erica’s work also investigates sleep as a mechanism that both influences and is influenced by health risk. This includes studying how dream content was affected by the early COVID-19 pandemic closures. She is particularly interested in exploring how evolutionary history and culture work in tandem to shape sleep health.

Erica is currently working with an agropastoral community in South Africa to understand how risk of livestock theft influences both sleep and overall well-being, as well as the structural barriers to healthcare access faced in these communities. She is also working on collaborative, applied research projects that highlight the intersections between health concerns, environment, and livelihood.