UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Mark Dyreson, professor of kinesiology at Penn State, will deliver the 2023 Pauline Schmitt Russell Research Lecture, “The Curious Case of the Rarámuri Foot-Runners: Unlikely Avatars of Modern Health and Wellness,” at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 27 in 110 Henderson Building and via Zoom webinar. The event, sponsored by the College of Health and Human Development, is free and open to the public.

Since the middle of the 19th century, a little-understood Indigenous culture from a remote area in northwestern Mexico has been regularly referenced in modern visions of health and wellness. Known as the Rarámuri tribe, the group’s exercise regimens and nutritional habits have been touted as remedies for inoculating modern populations against the scourges of urban-industrial civilizations, including heart disease, hypertension, cancer, diabetes, depression and anxiety.

Curiously, although these individuals serve as avatars of wellness, they are considered one of the least healthy populations in the Western Hemisphere, suffering from persistent malnutrition and endemic diseases, and bearing one of the highest rates of childhood mortality in the world.

According to Dyreson, the history of the Rarámuri — whose tribal name has been regularly translated as “the foot runners” — reveals illuminating insights into modern ideas about human health and development across lifespans, from the cellular to the social realms.

Each year, the Schmitt Russell Research Lecture is presented by the most recent recipient of the Pauline Schmitt Russell Distinguished Research Achievement Award, which recognizes the contributions of a distinguished faculty member whose career-long research has had a profound impact on a specific field of study.

The award honors Pauline Schmitt Russell, who graduated from Penn State in 1948 with a degree in home economics. It was established by her husband, Leo P. Russell, a 1941 industrial engineering graduate.