Antonis Rokas
Department of Biological Sciences
Department of Biomedical Informatics (BMI)
Vanderbilt Genetics Institute (VGI)
Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology and Inflammation (VI4)
Vanderbilt Pre³ Initiative
Vanderbilt Data Science Institute
In the Rokas lab, we study the DNA record to gain insight into the patterns and processes of evolution, focusing on three major questions: I. What are the molecular foundations of the fungal lifestyle? II. How can we elucidate the tree of life? III. How did human pregnancy evolve? We are working with several eukaryotic lineages, but mainly with mammals and fungi. Because, many of the computational and experimental approaches we employ are novel and unfamiliar to many biologists, we also investigate their utility for studying the function and evolution of the genomes of non-model organisms.
In the Rokas lab, we study the DNA record to gain insight into the patterns and processes of evolution, focusing on three major questions: I. What are the molecular foundations of the fungal lifestyle? II. How can we elucidate the tree of life? III. How did human pregnancy evolve? We are working with several eukaryotic lineages, but mainly with mammals and fungi. Because, many of the computational and experimental approaches we employ are novel and unfamiliar to many biologists, we also investigate their utility for studying the function and evolution of the genomes of non-model organisms.
Keywords: phylogenetics , functional genomics , molecular evolution , preterm birth , natural selection , comparative genomics
Research Area: Computational and Systems Biology , Genomics , Chemical Biology , Host-Pathogen Interactions , Evolution