Advisory Board and Editors Genetics
Scott Emrich
I received a BS in Biology and Computer Science from Loyola College in Maryland and a PhD in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology from Iowa State University (ISU). Upon graduation, I received a ISU Research Excellence award and the university-wide Zaffrano Prize for Graduate Research. Starting after graduation in 2007 I spent the first ten years of my career at the University of Notre Dame, and now am an Associate Professor at the University of Tennessee (Knoxville). My research interests include genome-focused bioinformatics, parallel and distributed computing, and the intersection of biological applications and second and third-gen sequencing. Nearly all of my research has been funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH).
Marcial Escudero
Assistant Professor of Plant Biology and Ecology, University of Seville (Spain). Past postdoctoral researcher at Doñana Biological Station (CSIC, Seville, Spain), at the Field Museum of Natural History of Chicago (Illionois, USA) and at The Morton Arboretum (Lisle, Illinois, USA). Past PhD student at University Pablo de Olavide (Seville, Spain).
Jay D Evans
Lead Scientist for the US Dept. Agriculture Bee Research Laboratory. Recipient of 2011 Hambleton Award for Bee Research and 2002 ARS Early Career Scientist-BA Award, member i5k Insect Genome Planning Committee.
Birthe Fahrenkrog
PhD in Cell Biology from the Biozentrum, University of Basel. Postdoctoral stays at the EMBL Heidelberg and the Biozentrum Basel. Group leader at the Biozentrum Basel (2003-2009), 2009-2020 Professor at the ULB, since August 2020 Senior Research Associate in the group of Prof. Dr. Roderick Lim at the Biozentrum, University of Basel. Research interest: nuclear pore complexes and nucleocytoplasmic transport; the role of nuclear pore proteins beyond nucleocytoplasmic transport. Editorial board member: Microbial Cell; Cells.
Faiza Farhan
Dr. Faiza Farhan earned a PhD in Clinical Science (specializing in stem cells) from Imperial College London in 2023.
Drawing on more than three years of editorial experience, Dr. Farhan seamlessly integrates her scientific knowledge with editorial prowess. Her extensive background in stem cell research fundamentally shapes her approach to scientific content editing. This powerful combination of rigorous academic training and practical editing expertise enables her to transform complex scientific concepts into clear, accessible information.
Joseph Felsenstein
Joe Felsenstein is Professor of the Department of Genome Sciences and in the Department of Biology, and adjunct Professor in the Department of Statistics and in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington, Seattle. Past President of the Society for the Study of Evolution. Recipient of the Weldon Memorial Prize, the Darwin-Wallace Medal of the Linnean Society of London, the John J. Carty Award for the Advancement of Science from the National Academy of Sciences and of the 2013 International Prize for Biology of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciences. He is a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences. On the Editorial Board of five journals.
He describes himself as "world-renowned for my outstanding modesty".
Rui Feng
I have been developing and applying statistical models and algorithms in genetics and genomics for more than 10 years. I have contributed both methodological and applied work in family-base studies, copy number variation analysis, genome-wide association studies, and next generation sequence data analysis.
I joined Penn’s biostatistics in August 2009 after receiving my PhD in biostatistics from Yale University and working as a faculty in the Department of Biostatistics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. My research interests focus on methodologies and applications in clinical and genetic studies.
Mario Alberto Flores-Valdez
Dr. Mario Alberto Flores-Valdez is a Professor in the Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Unit, CIATEJ, A.C., Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico (2007-present). He is a member of the National System of Researchers (SNI), and a member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences. He was a Stanford University Medical Center postdoctoral fellow (2004-2007), where he received a Dean's Fellowship Award (2006) to conduct research on Tuberculosis. He worked in UNAM as Research Assistant for Prof. Jaime Mora (2004) and Prof. Emundo Calva (2003). He has received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from UNAM (1999-2003), a M.Sc. in Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering from UANL (1996-1999) and a B.Sc. from Universidad de Sonora (1991-1996) in Chemistry and Biology. He received fellowships from CONACYT for M.Sc. and Ph.D. studies and in M.Sc. and B.Sc. has received Diplomas as Best Student. He has expertise in Tuberculosis, particularly in developing recombinant BCG strains. He has been PI for 7 grants from 2008 to date, focused in studies about tuberculosis vaccine development and basic aspects of mycobacterial physiology.
Lasse Folkersen
PhD in genetics from Karolinska Institute, Sweden. Research according to an overarching theme of my research is the use of high-throughput omics to bridge the gap between research and medicine. My initial interest was in expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL), and their possibilities for translating genetics to medical use. This followed a further step into actual industrial drug and pharmacogenetics development from the technique, performed at Novo Nordisk, Denmark. Current interests focus on further translation of main genetics results into actual use both in the clinical context of response stratification and in the industrial context of drug development.
Puri Fortes
PhD in Biology at Autonoma University (Madrid) working with Dr. Juan Ortin (NS1 protein from influenza virus and RNA splicing, transport and translation).
Postdoc at EMBL-Heidelberg working with Dr. Iain Mattaj (nuclear cap binding complex and splicing, polyadenylation and translation).
PI at CIMA (U1 snRNP regulation, viral miRNAs, viral lncRNAs, gene therapy, liver diseases)
M. Pilar Francino
M. P. Francino studied Biology at the National University of Mexico and obtained her Ph.D. at the University of Rochester (New York), working on analyses of rates and patterns of DNA sequence evolution in bacteria and primates. She conducted postdoctoral research in bacterial genetics as an EMBO Fellow at the University of Paris. After that, she served as a Research Scientist at the DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI) for five years, and was Head of the JGI Evolutionary Genomics Program from 2007 to 2009. Since 2009, she is a Senior Scientist at the Genomics and Health Department of FISABIO-Public Health in Valencia, and has been Head of the Department since 2012. Her current research focuses on the metagenomic analysis of human microbiome communities, in particular on understanding the development of the gut microbiota in infants. Work in her group analyzes the taxonomic composition, coding capabilities and gene expression patterns of the gut microbial community at different stages during infancy, as well as the relationships of these features with infant health. In addition, she is also interested in understanding the forces that shape the structure, organization and evolution of genomes. In previous and current work, she has addressed genome and molecular evolution subjects at different scales, ranging from the impact of mutational biases during DNA sequence evolution, to the evolution of new genes and their regulatory regions and the coevolution of different genomic traits.
Uta Francke
Uta Francke is Professor of Genetics and Pediatrics, Emeritus, Stanford University School of Medicine. Past President, American Society of Human Genetics; Past President, International Federation of Human Genetics Societies; March of Dimes/Colonel Harland Sanders Lifetime Achievement Award in Genetics. Recipient of the William Allan Award of the American Society of Human Genetics. Senior Medical Director, 23andMe, Inc.