Paul Spicer, Ph.D.

Occupation/Employment
Professor of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma

Affiliations
Board Member, ZERO TO THREE; Center for Applied Social Research, University of Oklahoma; American Anthropological Association; American Public Health Association; Society for Research on Child Development

Contributions to the Field
Dr. Spicer is a recognized leader in cultural anthropology with expertise in addiction, obesity, genetics, and child development in American Indian/Alaska Native communities. Dr. Spicer has been Principal Investigator on 9 grants to support this work, including awards from the Administration on Children and Families, numerous institutes within the National Institutes of Health, and two national programs of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Current Research
Dr. Spicer serves as Co-Principal Investigator and Co-Director of the American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start Research Center, which has offices in Colorado and Oklahoma. The goal of this center is to develop community-based participatory research in early childhood education in American Indian and Alaska Native communities. He is also developing and testing numerous interventions for American Indian infant health and development, including efforts to address language delay from birth, to establish healthy patterns of sleep and feeding to prevent excessive weight gain and, most recently, to prevent early childhood caries.

Recent Honor/Awards/Recognition/Books Published
Dr. Spicer has presented invited addresses in London, Vienna, and East Lansing, Michigan and his work has been featured in leading journals in anthropology, developmental psychology, medicine, and infant mental health as well as in numerous edited volumes on children’s health and development.