My scientific interest is to understand the genetic basis of naturally occurring variations within and between species. Now, I am studying the molecular evolution of the Y chromosome in primates.
I recently joined this lab as a doctoral student. I am investigating differences in mutation patterns across chromosomes especially between sex chromosomes and autosomes, currently concentrating on CpG mutation rates.
As a graduate student in the IGDP Genetics, I joined Makova lab to pursue my interests in molecular evolution and comparative genomics. I'm currently involved in the experimental stages of a project which seeks to test whether mutations are primarily generated from errors in replication. This is important for studies of evolution as well as genetic disease. Prior to joining Kateryna's lab, I began my career in comparative genomics as a research specialist for the Laboratory for Molecular and Computational Genomics at UW-Madison.
I am a second semester Biology major in the Schreyer Honors College and this is my first semester doing research in Makova Lab. I will be working with cetaceans on the male mutation bias project. In my spare time, I enjoy playing the flute and skiing.
Kateryna is interested in evolutionary genomics. She studies genome evolution (particularly sex chromosome evolution), variation of substitution rate within and across mammalian genomes, and evolution of gene expression.
I am interested in understanding the genetic and morphological diversity of animals via comparative genomic approaches. In particular, my research focuses on genome-wide anlysis of X chromosome inactivation and expression divergence between duplicate genes.
I have just recently joined the Makova lab as a WISER student, and will be working on lab's male mutation bias project. I'm currently a freshman in my second semester at Penn State planning to major in Biology. My hometown is Hershey and I like music, art, cats, and ice cream.
Melissa Wilson - Ph.D. student - Integrated Biosciences
I am a doctoral student in the Integrative Biosciences program, Bioinformatics & Genomics option. My undergraduate degree was in Medical Mathematics, focusing on differential and discrete modeling. I am interested in signatures and mechanisms of genome evolution, specifically gene duplication events and Y chromosome divergence across taxa.
