Mentor Areas
The Tishkoff lab combines field work, laboratory work, and computational approaches to address fundamental questions about modern human evolutionary history and the genetic architecture of traits related to adaptation and disease risk in Africa. Using an integrative genomics approach, the lab is incorporating genomic, proteomic, epigenetic, transcriptomic, metabolomic, and microbiome data obtained from ethnically diverse Africans living in distinct environments to identify genetic and environmental factors that play a role in a number of anthropometric, metabolomic, cardiovascular, and immune related traits. Many of these traits are likely to play a role in adaptation and some may play a role in disease susceptibility. The lab is characterizing gene and transcription networks to study how naturally occurring genetic and structural variation perturbs them. They are also studying how these networks are impacted by variable environmental factors such as lifestyle, diet, drug response, and infectious disease exposure. Additionally, the lab is examining patterns of genetic variation at the genome level among modern humans and non-human primates in order to elucidate the evolutionary forces (mutation, gene conversion/recombination, migration, drift, selection) that shape and maintain genetic variation in contemporary populations. These data are being used to reconstruct historical demographic and population differentiation events (including population expansion and contraction, subdivision, and migration) and to test hypotheses of modern human origins, including the possibility of introgression of archaic and modern human genomes.
Description:
We study human genomic diversity, human evolutionary history, and the genetic basis of normal and disease related traits.
Whether the position is volunteer, paid, etc will depend on the training and skills of the applicant.
Preferred Qualifications
Students should either have training in molecular biology/genetics and/or computational skills. The latter is of particular desire.
Project Website
Learn more about the researcher and/or the project here. Tishkoff Lab
Details:
Preferred Student Year
First-year, Second-Year, Junior, Senior
Academic Term
Fall, Spring, Summer
I prefer to have students start during the above term(s).Volunteer
Yes
Yes indicates that faculty are open to volunteers.Paid
Yes
Yes indicates that faculty are open to paying students they engage in their research, regardless of their work-study eligibility.Work Study
Yes
Yes indicates that faculty are open to hiring work-study-eligible students.