NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2011

Degiorgio Michael, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2011, Broadening Participation. The fellowship supports a research and training plan in a host laboratory for the Fellow who also presents a plan to broaden participation in biology. The title of the research and training plan for this fellowship to Michael DeGiorgio is "Using mathematical models to study the spatial distribution of human genetic variation." The host institution for this research is University of California, Berkeley and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Rasmus Nielsen. The research promises a better understanding of the processes that led to the current distribution of genetic variation among human populations. The research plan includes testing different hypotheses of modern human origins by developing and analyzing models of human genetic history and applying statistical techniques to next-generation sequence data from human populations. Further, the Fellow is deriving mathematical formulas to describe the distribution of genetic variation under different models of human evolutionary history. Findings from this study add to greater knowledge of the demographic processes that shaped the spatial distribution of human genetic variation, enabling investigators to distinguish signals of adaptation from those of demography. The training objectives include learning to make population genetic inferences from low-coverage next-generation sequencing data and gaining new perspectives for interpreting and understanding evolution. The new computational tools being developed are being made available to the public and results published with open access. Broader impacts include research experience for undergraduate students from underrepresented groups early in their scientific training through the Berkeley Biology Scholars Program to expose them to population genomic research, computation, and the ethical implications of the research.