Dr. Bingham Thomas is a biocultural medical anthropologist. As such, she is interested in how culture and biology interact. Her research interests include health, religion, immigration, social support, and gender. Most recently, she compared how Latino/a immigrant and non-immigrant Latter-day Saints understand social support (ministering) and how those understandings are associated with stress and depression. She enjoys employing both ethnographic methods as well as biological methods, such as measuring hormones in saliva, hair, and blood. She welcomes students looking to gain hands-on research experience in any of her theoretical or methodological areas of expertise.
Selected Publications:
Bingham Thomas, Elizabeth, Nicolette M. Edwards, Jaxson D. Haug, and K. Ann Horsburgh. "Advances in Biocultural Approaches to Understanding Stress in Humans." Humans 4, no. 4 (2024): 321-339.
Bingham Thomas, Elizabeth and Carolyn Smith-Morris. "Family and family-like relations for transnational migrants: ideals of care informed by kin, non-family, and religion." Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 42, no. 3 (2020): 344-362.
Dengah, HJ François, Elizabeth Bingham Thomas, Erica Hawvermale, and Essa Temple. "“Find that Balance:” The Impact of Cultural Consonance and Dissonance on Mental Health among Utah and Mormon Women." Medical Anthropology Quarterly 33, no. 3 (2019): 439-458.