Research Interests
The primary focus of my research is the genetic and mechanistic basis of adaptive phenotypic evolution. In my lab we address questions about biochemical adaptation by integrating evolutionary analyses of DNA sequence variation with mechanistic appraisals of protein function, and we address questions about physiological adaptation by integrating systems-level analyses of transcriptional regulatory circuits and genome-scale metabolic networks with experimental studies of whole-animal physiological performance. We use a highly interdisciplinary approach that integrates molecular population genetics, molecular evolution, comparative genomics, functional genomics, structural biology, protein biochemistry, and whole-animal physiology. Much of our current work involves experimental studies of functional genetic variation in high-altitude mammals and birds to identify mechanisms of hypoxia adaptation.