I am a practicing emergency physician and a professor in the University of New Mexico Department of Emergency Medicine. Beginning in 2008, I taught a Fall semester course on Evolutionary Medicine to undergraduates and graduate students through the Biology Department, where I am an adjunct professor. A year later, I started teaching Evolutionary Medicine to medical students and residents at the UNM School of Medicine (CLNS835). My background includes graduate training in neurobiology and behavior with Paul Sherman and Steve Emlen at Cornell, medical school at UCLA and residency at the University of New Mexico. I am committed to educating students and studying the translational potential of evolutionary medicine. The intersection of medicine and evolutionary biology comprises a discipline that is quickly gathering steam, with direct benefits to patient care. My current research uses evolutionary principles to understand cooperation and conflict in the human gut microbiome related to acute and chronic diseases.

Find me at @JoeAlcockMD on Twitter and @JoeAlcock on Bluesky

Just published: Alcock J. Obstructive sleep apnea and the microbiota, mechanisms and opportunities. Current Opinion in Pulmonary Medicine. September 2025. DOI: 10.1097/MCP.0000000000001211

Click here for publications from ResearchGate

Click here for a PubMed indexed publication list.

Click here to visit the UNM Emergency Medicine website

Email is joalcock (at) salud (dot) unm (dot) edu

Fatty acids from diet and microbiota regulate energy metabolism. F1000 Research 2015.

Ethnic disparities in emergency severity index scores among U.S. Veteran’s Affairs emergency department patients. PLOS One. 2015

Emergence of Evolutionary Medicine: Publication Trends from 1991- 2010 Journal of Evolutionary Medicine Vol. 1 (2012), Article ID 235572, doi:10.4303/jem/235572