The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Skip to main content

Comparative Genomics and Molecular Evolution

Shawn Ahmed, PhD

Professor of

Genetics and Biology

Resource Faculty
Phone: 919-843-4780 | Office: 216 Fordham Hall
Email: shawn@med.unc.edu | Website: http://labs.bio.unc.edu/ahmed/

Research Areas: Bioinformatics, Comparative Genomics and Molecular Evolution, Computational Genomics
Research Interests: We are interested in understanding potential functions of nuclear foci that are composed of telomere binding proteins, whose levels can be altered for several generations by a single gamete. This novel form of epigenetic inheritance may be relevant to roles that telomeres play in human aging, in cancer biology, and potentially to the mysterious relationship of environmental stress with human telomere length. We primarily study the nematode C. elegans but are also in translating our work to human biology. We are broadly interested in creative approaches to study telomere biology, genome silencing, small RNAs and transgenerational epigenetic inheritance.

J. Mauro Calabrese, PhD

Associate Professor of

Pharmacology and Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

Resource Faculty
Phone: 919-843-3257 | Office: 4093 Genetic Medicine Building
Email: jmcalabr@med.unc.edu | Website: http://www.med.unc.edu/pharm/calabreselab

Research Areas: Bioinformatics, Comparative Genomics and Molecular Evolution, Computational Genomics
Research Interests: Sequence rules to predict long noncoding RNA function, mechanisms of transcriptional regulation by long noncoding RNAs

Daniel Dominguez, PhD

Assistant Professor of

Pharmacology

Core Faculty
Phone: (919) 966-0131 | Office: 4113 Genetic Medicine Building
Email: didoming@email.unc.edu | Website: https://dominguez-lab.org/

Research Areas: Bioinformatics, Comparative Genomics and Molecular Evolution, Computational Genomics, Computational Systems Biology
Research Interests: The Dominguez lab studies how gene expression is controlled by proteins that bind RNA. We apply high-throughput biochemical and computational approaches to understand protein-RNA interactions, RNA processing, and gene regulation in normal and disease biology.

Corbin D. Jones, PhD

Professor of

Biology and Genetics

Core Faculty
Phone: 919-962-4443 | Office: 3159 Genome Science Building
Email: cdjones@email.unc.edu | Website: http://bio.unc.edu/people/faculty/cdjones/

Research Areas: Bioinformatics, Comparative Genomics and Molecular Evolution, Statistical and Populational Genetics
Research Interests: Developing novel computational approaches for comparative analysis of genomics data

Jun Li, PhD

Associate Professor of

School of Data Science and Society

Core Faculty
Phone: 919-445-1273 | Office: 4601 ITS Manning
Email: jli14@unc.edu | Website: https://jlilab.org

Research Areas: Bioinformatics, Computational Genomics, Computational Systems Biology
Research Interests: My research focuses on developing computational tools and integrative multi-omics approaches to uncover cancer vulnerabilities and advance precision oncology. Leveraging genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and AI-driven analytics, I aim to translate complex molecular data into actionable biomarkers and therapeutic insights.

Qingyun Liu, PhD

Assistant Professor of

Genetics

Core Faculty
Phone: 919-843-6471 | Office: 5061 Genetic Medicine Building
Email: Qingyun_Liu@med.unc.edu | Website: https://qingyunliulab.com/

Research Areas: Population genomics, Bacterial evolution, Infectious disease, Antibiotic resistance, Pathogenicity
Research Interests: Infectious diseases due to highly pathogenic microbes continue to pose a persistent and evolving threat to humans. The Liu lab studies the evolutionary mechanisms underlying drug resistance and transmissibility in bacterial pathogens, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium abscessus, among others.

Jonathan Parr, MD, MPH

Associate Professor of

Medicine

Resource Faculty
Phone: (919) 445-1132 | Office: 8312A Medical Biomolecular Research Building
Email: jonathan_parr@med.unc.edu | Website: http://www.ideelresearch.org/

Research Areas: Comparative Genomics and Molecular Evolution, Statistical and Population Genetics
Research Interests: The Parr laboratory conducts applied, translational research on the molecular epidemiology of infectious diseases, with a focus on malaria. We work closely with international partners to use cutting-edge sequencing approaches in order to study pathogen evolution and inform policy decisions.

Daniel Schrider, PhD

Associate Professor of

Genetics

Core Faculty
Phone: (919) 843-6475 | Office: 5047 Genetic Medicine Building
Email: dschride@email.unc.edu | Website: https://www.schriderlab.org/

Research Areas: Bioinformatics, Comparative Genomics and Molecular Evolution, Computational Genomics, Statistical and Population Genetics
Research Interests: We develop and apply computational tools to make inferences about evolution from population genomic datasets. Our research areas include the population genetics of adaptation, genomic copy number variants, and the application of supervised machine learning tools to evolutionary questions.