Exploring Long-term Evolution of Pathogens

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Exploring Long-term Evolution of Pathogens

This project aims to develop, implement, and ultimately utilize a cohesive population genetic framework for quantifying the evolutionary forces governing human pathogens. The preliminary aims, focused around TB, are two-fold: first, the biology underlying this bacterial infection requires the development of novel theoretical and statistical approaches, as the clonal nature of the organism, combined with low mutation rates and a lack of recombination, renders tools previously developed for the study of viruses, for example, largely inappropriate. Secondly, novel time-sampled data is being generated from at-risk populations. Together, these preliminary data, will serve as a springboard for the expansion of this collaborative project in to not only other populations hard hit by TB, but also in to other pathogens currently threatening global health.

Published articles

Baker, B.J., Crane‐Kramer, G., Dee, M.W., Gregoricka, L.A., Henneberg, M., Lee, C., Lukehart, S.A., Mabey, D.C., Roberts, C.A., Stodder, A.L.W., Stone, A.C. and Winingear, S. (2020). Advancing the understanding of treponemal disease in the past and present. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 171(S70), pp.5–41.
Jensen, J.D. and Kowalik, T.F. (2019). A consideration of within-host human cytomegalovirus genetic variation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(2), pp.816–817.
Morales‐Arce, A.Y., Harris, R.B., Stone, A.C. and Jensen, J.D. (2020). Evaluating the contributions of purifying selection and progeny‐skew in dictating within‐host Mycobacterium tuberculosis evolution. Evolution, 74(5), pp.992–1001.
Prachanronarong, K.L., Canale, A.S., Liu, P., Somasundaran, M., Hou, S., Poh, Y.-P., Han, T., Zhu, Q., Renzette, N., Zeldovich, K.B., Kowalik, T.F., Kurt-Yilmaz, N., Jensen, J.D., Bolon, D.N.A., Marasco, W.A., Finberg, R.W., Schiffer, C.A. and Wang, J.P. (2019). Mutations in Influenza A Virus Neuraminidase and Hemagglutinin Confer Resistance against a Broadly Neutralizing Hemagglutinin Stem Antibody. Journal of Virology, [online] 93(2)
Sackman, A.M., Harris, R.B. and Jensen, J.D. (2019). Inferring Demography and Selection in Organisms Characterized by Skewed Offspring Distributions. Genetics, [online] 211(3), pp.1019–1028.
Sackman, A.M., Pfeifer, S.P., Kowalik, T.F. and Jensen, J.D. (2018). On the Demographic and Selective Forces Shaping Patterns of Human Cytomegalovirus Variation within Hosts. Pathogens, [online] 7(1), p.16.