Evolutionary Forces in Humans and Pathogens

We are in the midst of a revolution in the fields of genomics and public health. The completion of the human genome sequence, the availability of genome sequence from increasing numbers of related species, the availability of genome-wide human variation data, and the ability to rapidly generate new data have created unprecedented opportunities to study human biology, evolution, and disease. These same tools are also making it possible to carry out unprecedented studies in the microbial pathogens that affect humans.

My lab’s research goals are to use the rapidly emerging resources to:

1. Develop and apply methods to investigate natural selection in the human genome;
2. Study the genomic evolution of the microbial pathogens that affect humans;
3. Build new computational tools for studies of genomics and public health.

The key infectious diseases of my lab’s current studies are Lassa fever, Ebola fever, Plasmodium Falciparum malaria, Vibrio Cholerae cholera.