My research investigates the evolution and dynamics of genome change across many levels of organization. I am specifically interested in the impact transposable elements have on the structure and function of eukaryotic genomes. Transposable elements constitute the major fraction of most animal and plant genomes, yet the processes responsible for their multiplication and the evolutionary impact they have on their hosts’ genomes remain incompletely understood.

I am interested in understanding transposable element dynamics at the population level, at the level of gene regulation and genome evolution, and as modulators of somatic mutation in individuals.  At the population scale, I am interested in how transposable elements can help reveal signatures of selection,  how families of elements evolve within and across populations, and how models for transposable element activity can be modeled as a mutation process. At the level of gene regulation and genome evolution, I am interested in how motifs derived from transposable elements are domesticated and exapted and the mechanisms that allow variation generated by transposable elements to yield phenotypic diversity. At the level of somatic mutation in individuals, I am interested in how transposable element mobilization can contribute to disease and aging processes by interfering with gene regulation and chromosome stability.

I have studied transposable elements and genomics extensively in squamate reptiles. Squamate reptiles (lizards and snakes)  exhibit incredible diversity in their morphologies and natural histories--and their genomes. This incredible genomic diversity has the the potential to put mammalian, particularly human, genomic variation in a larger and more meaningful context. However, the bioinformatics and genomics tools leveraged in my research are highly generalizable and can be deployed in other systems, including plants, invertebrates, fungi and protozoa, and to address questions related to medical and developmental biology.

These are some of the projects I am currently involved with:

• Population Genomics of Structural Polymorphisms in Anolis carolinensis
• Nucleotide Bias across Vertebrate Non-LTR Retrotransposons
• Ancient Transposable Element Fragments and the Deep Genome
• Epigenomics of Structural Polymorphisms in Anolis carolinensis
• Whole Genome Assembly and Repetitive Element Analysis of African Frogs
• Transposable Elements Polymorphisms in and across the Date Palm Genome
• Endogenous Retrovirus Expression in Zebrafish Cancer Models
• Neuronal Expression of Transposable in Response to Post-Traumatic Stress