Biography
My research uses population genetics to better understand human evolutionary history, including adaptation, genetic demography and archaic introgression. I am interested in how large-scale patterns of genetic variation, over countries and continents, are impacted by local social behaviours such as kinship practices, migration and movement decisions, and social hierarchies. I combine modelling and simulation with information from human genetics and other sources (linguistics, movement ecology, ancient DNA, domesticate genetics and the microbiome) to better understand these processes. My work has a regional focus in South Asia and islands in Southeast Asia.
I will be on Research Leave for Michaelmas and Lent terms 2024/25.
Research
- Human evolutionary genetics
- Social behaviour and genetic diversity
- Non-human genetics and the microbiome
- Hunter-gatherer genetic variation
Ongoing and past research projects:
- 2021-2026: MOBILE: Movement networks and genetic evolution among tropical hunter-gatherers of island Southeast Asia (PI, ERC Starting Grant)
- 2019-2021: Pilot study of Cave Punan hunter-gatherers of Borneo (with Prof. Steve Lansing and Dr Pradiptajati Kusuma)
- 2018-2020: Borneo Human Genome and Microbiome Diversity in Association with Health and Disease (with the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology)
- 2018-2020: Archaic introgression and the evolution of modern humans (NTU Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship)
- 2016-2019: The Indonesian Genome Diversity Project (with the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology)
Publication
2023 (Accepted for publication)
2023
2022 (Accepted for publication)
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2018
2017
Teaching and Supervisions
I am involved in the teaching of the following courses:
Paper B1: Humans in Biological Perspective
Paper B4: Comparative Human Biology
Paper B16 – Genomes: Ancient, Modern and Mixed
I am interested in supervising students who wish to study for an MPhil or a PhD in the following topics:
- Genetics of archaic introgression
- Human microbiome diversity and evolution
- Genetic adaptation and signals of selection
- Modelling the genetics of social behaviour
- Human-domesticate coevolution
- Genetics of South Asian cattle