Bio
Srishti is a physiologist and maternal health researcher interested in how humans and other primates manage the energy costs of pregnancy. She received her PhD in Evolutionary Anthropology from Duke University in 2025, advised by Dr. Herman Pontzer. In a cohort of highly active women, she measured energy balance, body composition, and health outcomes during pregnancy—finding a limit to maternal energy metabolism, even with the competing energy demands of fetal growth and physical activity.
As a Donnelley Postdoctoral Associate in the Yale Institute of Biospheric Studies and Department of Anthropology, Srishti continues to assess how maternal and fetal health outcomes are impacted by physiological trade-offs within a limited energy budget. Working with Dr. Richard Bribiescas, she is investigating possible molecular (hormone) mechanisms driving energy trade-offs in pregnancy.
List of Publications:
Sadhir, S., McGrosky, A., Swanson, Z.S., Tavormina, A., Tomechko, K., & Pontzer, H. (2025). Physical activity and heat stress shape water needs in pregnant endurance athletes. Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health. Special Issue: Evolution of Water Needs, Heat Stress, & Climate Change. eoaf003. https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoaf003(link is external)(Link is external)
McGrosky, A., Ford, L., Hinz, E., Sadhir, S., Wambua, F., Braun, D.R., Douglass, M., Ndiema, E., Nzunza, R., Rosinger, A.Y., & Pontzer, H. (2025). High water turnover, hydration status and heat stress across the life course in an arid/semi-arid climate. Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health. Special Issue: Evolution of Water Needs, Heat Stress, & Climate Change. https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoaf017(link is external)(Link is external)
Rosinger, A.Y., McGrosky, A., Jacobson, H., Hinz, E., Sadhir, S., Wambua, F., Otube, T., Baker, L., Sherwood, A., Mbeng, T.-C., Broyles, L., Musumeci, C., Meriwether, N., Bobbie, N., Farrar, Z., Todd, M., Nguyen, Z., Berger, G., Ford, L.B., Braun, D.R., Douglass, M., Hunter, M., Farquhar, W., Kenney, W.L., Sands, J., Nzunza, R., Ndiema, E., & Pontzer, H. (2025). Drinking water NaCl associated with hypertension and albuminuria: A panel study. Hypertension. https://doi.org/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.125.24751(link is external)(Link is external)
Roba, K.T., Jacobson, H., McGrosky A., Sadhir, S., Ford, L.B., Pfaff, M., Kim, E.Y., Douglass, M., Braun, D.R., Ndiema, E., Urlacher, S.S., Pontzer, H., & Rosinger, A.Y. (2025) Chronic stress and severe water insecurity during the historic 2022 drought in northern Kenya are associated with inflammation among Daasanach semi-nomadic pastoralists. American Journal of Human Biology. Special Issue: Human Biology of Pastoralists. 37(2): e70009. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.70009(link is external)(Link is external)
Sadhir, S., McGrosky, A., Ford, L.B., Nzunza, R., Wemanya, S.N., Mashaka, H., Kinyanjui, R., Ndiema, E., Braun, D.R., Rosinger, A.Y., & Pontzer, H. (2024). Physical activity and pregnancy norms among Daasanach semi-nomadic pastoralist women in Northern Kenya. American Journal of Human Biology. e24174.
https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.24174(link is external)(Link is external)
Rosinger, A.Y., Stoler, J., Ford, L.B., McGrosky, A., Sadhir, S., Ulrich, M., Todd M., Bobbie, N., Nzunza, R., Braun, D.R., Ndiema, E.K., Douglass, M.J., & Pontzer, H. (2024). Mobility ideation due to water problems during historic 2022 drought associated with livestock wealth, water and food insecurity, and fingernail cortisol concentration in northern Kenya. Social Science & Medicine. 359: 117280.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117280(link is external)(Link is external)
Sadhir, S. & Pontzer, H. (2023). Impact of energy availability and physical activity on variation in fertility across human populations. Journal of Physiological Anthropology. 42(1): 1. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40101-023-00318-3(link is external)(Link is external)
Parker, C.H., Sadhir, S., Swanson, Z., McGrosky, A., Hinz, E., Urlacher, S., & Pontzer, H. (2023). Effect of influenza vaccination on resting metabolic rate and c-reactive protein concentrations in healthy young adults. PLOS ONE. 18(12): e0295540.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0295540(link is external)(Link is external)
Klasson, C., Sadhir, S., & Pontzer, H. (2022). Daily physical activity is negatively associated with thyroid hormone and immune system markers among men and women in the NHANES dataset. PLOS ONE. 17(7): e0270221.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0270221(link is external)(Link is external)
Education
- Ph.D., Biological Anthropology, Duke University
- B.A., Anthropology/Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut