Research

Quantitative genetics

To what extent can we predict quantitative phenotypes based on genotype? Mutations affect phenotype by perturbing the underlying cellular network: they can alter 1) enzymatic quality of proteins, 2) gene expression, and 3) protein folding amongst others. Focusing on the genetic basis of traits, we are broadly interested in asking what are the molecular processes that determine differences between individuals and therefore are acted on by evolutionary forces.

Systems biology of complex traits

Thousands of polymorphisms in populations are responsible for phenotypic differences between individuals and between species. Which 'molecular knobs' are affected and are the main players between phenotypic divergence? Our research uses extremely large panels of derived strains from the wild to get at the systems biology of the cell.

Phenotypic evolution

Our lab makes use of several experimental evolution experiments to dissect the cellular basis of adaptation. For example, we know that transcriptional regulation plays a major role in cellular differentiation. However, how evolution tinkers with regulatory networks is less clear.

Variant effect mapping

Our lab has developed a straightforward pipeline to create all possible amino acid variation in a gene of interest. This allows us to comprehensively investigate the sequence to function relationship at unprecedented scale.

Precision medicine

Our lab is participating in the effort to systematically characterize all functional missense variation in human genes. Our goal is to determine disease risks such as cancer before manifestation of symptoms (shifting medicine to a preventive science), and to reveal genetic determinants of inter-personal differences in molecular pathology to design better treatments,