I am a biological anthropologist and molecular evolutionary biologist interested in understanding the genetic basis of traits. My current work links genetic adaptations to important changes in the human and primate reproductive systems. Because reproduction directly affects fitness, changes in these genes are important to both evolution and health.
Biography
I received my undergraduate degree in Biological Anthropology from Harvard University, where I studied molecular co-evolution of papillomaviruses and their human and primate hosts. Before starting my PhD, I worked as a research technician in the departments of Medicine and Cell Biology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, focusing on epigenetic regulation of gene expression. I returned to Harvard for my PhD, also in Biological Anthropology. Since receiving my PhD, I have been a College Fellow and Lecturer at Harvard, teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in Human Evolutionary Biology.