“Breathing Time”

A Bioarcheological and Medical Assessment of Respiratory Illnesses and Airborne Diseases in Urban and Rural Switzerland Based on Skeletal Indicators: 15th – 20th Century CE

Author(s) : Tobias Hofstetter 
Supervisor(s) : Dr. N. Moghaddam (UIAF, SHIFT), Dr. V. Varlet (SHIFT), Prof. S. Grabherr (CURML)
Type : PhD project (ongoing)

Summary of project :

This PhD project, headed by the Swiss Human Institute of Forensic Taphonomy (SHIFT) and the Forensic Imaging and Anthropology Unit (UIAF) of the University Center of Legal Medicine of Lausanne/Geneva (CURML) is led in close collaboration with the PIXE platform of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).

Its main aim resides in the identification and study of reliable skeletal markers of respiratory and airborne diseases (which mostly take the form of osteoblastic or osteoclastic activity, anatomic structural remodeling and bone sclerosis). This project also endeavors to assess the diagnostic value of the said skeletal markers in clinical settings