Sattenspiel has a B.A. from
Stanford University, and an M.S. (1979) and a Ph.D. from the
University of New Mexico.[1] For her Ph.D. she worked on disease transmission in heterogeneous populations.[2] Following her Ph.D. she worked at the
University of Michigan until her 1987 move to the University of Missouri. She was promoted to professor in 2003 and was promoted to chair of the department of anthropology in 2016.[1]
Research
Sattenspiel is known for her research into infectious diseases, their ecology, transmission, and effect on human populations. She has worked on the
Spanish flu,
influenza and
measles in Canada, and epidemics in the
Four Corners region of Arizona. Her early work modeled age structure of populations[3] and the impact on spread of diseases.[4][5] She has examined the transmission of diseases including HIV,[6][7] measles,[8] and influenza.[9] Her research includes investigations into the impact of quarantines[10] and vaccination strategies.[11] In Newfoundland, she researched connections between absenteeism in schools and epidemics,[12] and how social interactions impact the spread of infectious diseases.[13] More recently, she has applied her past work on the Spanish flu to interpret the patterns from the
COVID-19 pandemic in the state of Missouri.[14][15]