Athena Aktipis is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Arizona State University and co-director of the Human Generosity Project, the first large-scale transdisciplinary project to investigate the interrelationship between biological and cultural influences on human generosity. Professor Aktipis also works on cooperation and conflict in biological systems including cancer evolution and the human microbiome. She is a cooperation theorist, social psychologist, theoretical evolutionary biologist, and cancer biologist who now works at the intersection of these fields. Aktipis is also the co-founder and director of Human and Social Evolution at the Center for Evolution and Cancer at the University of California, San Francisco.
Cooperation and Conflict Across Systems
My research investigates how cooperation and conflict shape systems from human sharing to cells within multicellular bodies. I use computational modeling, laboratory experiments and fieldwork to better understand these processes and the general principles that operate across cooperative systems. My work addresses both cooperation on small-scales and the problems inherent in scaling-up cooperation to large interconnected complex systems. My contributions to cooperation theory include the Walk Away model of cooperation (showing that conditional movement favors cooperation) and the Need-based Transfers framework for resource sharing (which can outperform strict account-keeping).I have also worked on the applications of cooperation theory to cancer evolution including the role of resource conflict in the evolution of invasion and metastasis.
Department of Psychology Research Lab: Cooperation and Conflict Lab
Spring 2021 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 498 | Pro-Seminar |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 591 | Seminar |
PSY 792 | Research |
PSY 799 | Dissertation |
Fall 2020 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 792 | Research |
Spring 2020 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 591 | Seminar |
ASB 591 | Seminar |
FAS 591 | Seminar |
BIO 591 | Seminar |
CDE 591 | Seminar |
SOC 591 | Seminar |
PHY 598 | Special Topics |
PSY 792 | Research |
Fall 2019 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
BIO 394 | Special Topics |
PSY 394 | Special Topics |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 592 | Research |
PSY 599 | Thesis |
PSY 792 | Research |
Spring 2019 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
Fall 2018 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
BIO 394 | Special Topics |
PSY 394 | Special Topics |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
Spring 2018 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
BIO 498 | Pro-Seminar |
PSY 498 | Pro-Seminar |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 591 | Seminar |
BIO 591 | Seminar |
Fall 2017 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
BIO 394 | Special Topics |
PSY 394 | Special Topics |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
Spring 2017 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
BIO 394 | Special Topics |
PSY 394 | Special Topics |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
Fall 2016 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
PSY 498 | Pro-Seminar |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 591 | Seminar |