Faculty Member
- Christina Bergey
- Position: Assistant Professor
- Research Focus: Evolutionary genomics of humans, non-human primates, and disease vectors
- Click for Lab Website
- Subset Area: Computational Genetics | Statistical Genetics
- Email:
- Phone: (848) 445-9628
- Office: Nelson Biology Laboratory, Room B416
- Research:
Our research aims to understand how organisms adapt to their environment with a focus on the evolution of complex, polygenic traits. To do so, we use population and evolutionary genomic approaches to understand the effects of past selection on modern medically-relevant phenotypes, testing evolutionary hypotheses in humans, non-human primates, and disease vectors. More broadly, we want to understand how ecological, behavioral, cultural, or anthropogenic factors impact adaptive evolution.
Our current major projects include:
- investigating human adaptations to life in the rainforests of Africa, including the evolution of small body size in rainforest hunter-gatherers,
- understanding the co-evolution of malaria with its human and primate hosts and mosquito vector, and
- exploring how primates have adapted to their environments with a particular focus on gene flow between species in Africa.
- Publications: Visit my Google Scholar profile for an up-to-date publication list.
