Research
My research group addresses fundamental questions in contemporary genomics: the study of an organism's entire complement of DNA. The ability to integrate new genetic technologies with sophisticated computational analysis remains a key bottleneck in advancing the biological sciences. My research group leverages national and international connections to address outstanding biological questions at the interface of genomics, computer science and statistics.
I am particularly interested in modeling genome dynamics — firstly, establishing how genetic variation is distributed within and between individuals, and secondly, determining how this diversity changes over evolutionary time.
My work draws heavily on genetics with a solid foundation in biochemistry, statistics, computer science and anthropology. I design and implement novel algorithms and statistics, largely in the fields of coalescent theory, demographic inference and systems biology. These tools are currently being applied to several ongoing projects, including i) reconstructing human prehistory in the Pacific region, ii) determining the evolution of gene regulation, and iii) developing new methods for demographic inference. These projects typically utilize the latest high-throughput technologies.
More broadly, I am interested in the interface between biology, statistics and computer science, especially where large genetic datasets can be applied to address questions of outstanding biological importance.
