Postdocs
Roman is starting a project new to the lab that will combine population genetic analysis and neurophysiological experiments in the periphery of the Drosophila chemosensory system.
Clement is interested in evolutionary genetics in both Drosophila and humans. Currently, he is studying the evolutionary and population genetics of sperm competition.
To identify potentially adaptive DNA sequence polymorphisms, Tony is fitting models of the metabolic network to quantitative genetic data from two behaviorally isolated populations of Drosophila melanogaster and combining them with a large-scale population-genetic survey.
Melanie's interests in unusual sequences and the evolutionary and mechanistic processes that contribute to their formation and persistence have motivated much of her research on repetitive sequences in eukaryotic proteins.
Jian is currently studying the regulatory roles of microRNAs, a field that he has gained experience in during his PhD. In our lab he in investigating their involvement in the innate immunity of Drosophila.
Rich Meisel is interested in the evolution of the genic content and organization of genomes, as well as the evolution of sex chromosomes and sex-biased gene expression.
Nadia is currently working on a project to fine-map a region of the X chromosome, and on DNA substitution patterns of sequences in DNA transposons.
Grad students
Nancy is interested the genetic basis of adaptation in natural populations, with a focus on the evolution of disease resistance and how organisms respond to varying pathogen pressures.
Angela Early is a second-year graduate student in the field of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and is broadly interested in the evolution of immunity, host-pathogen interactions, and the evolution of symbiotic relationships.
Erin is works on various aspects of Drosophila innate immunity including, but not limitied to regulation of complex gene networks and effects of mutations on this network.
Amanda Larracuente is a graduate student working on various projects in Drosophila genomics and population genetics, and has a special interest in sex chromosome evolution and the evolutionary advantages of recombination.
Kirk, a fourth year student, is specifically interested in the interplay of demographic history and its effect on the efficacy of natural selection.
Sarah is a PhD candidate interested in studying the evolution of transcriptional networks in general, from both experimental and theoretical perspectives.
Xu recently completed a study of identifying novel imprinted gene in P2 neonatal mice brain by Illumina/Solexa sequencing the entire transcriptome and he is also investigating human linkage maps.
Other
Sean is the technician in charge of the Drosophila obesity project. Sean constructed the set of Drosophila lines we are using in this project, and is now deeply engaged in the enzyme kinetics, SNP typing, and transcript abundance measurements.
Next to working as a technician in our lab, Conny is assisting in the Drosophila Obesity project. She is also interested in fly immunity and copy number variation in humans.