Michael Wasney
I am a computational evolutionary biologist interested in the eco-evolutionary forces that shape genetic diversity in natural populations, with an emphasis on microbial populations. As a PhD candidate in UCLA's Genetics & Genomics program, I work in the Garud Lab researching the spatial distribution of genetic diversity in the gut microbiome, the dynamics of adaptation in the context of microbial invasion, and other topics related to microbial ecology and evolution.
I am also interested in science pedagogy. As a PhD student at UCLA, I have undertaken a variety of mentorship opportunites, both as a teach assistant and one-on-one mentor in several of UCLA's summer research experience for undergraduate (REU) programs (e.g., Bruins-In-Genomics (B.I.G) Summer Program). I am passionate about using my position in academia to make STEM higher education more accessible for the next generation of scientists.
Contact
- E-mail:
michaelwasney@ucla.edu
- Office: Life Sciences Building 4114
UCLA
Los Angeles, CA 90095 - Github:
michaelwasney
Research
Here are some of the projects I have worked on over the past several years.
Uniform bacterial genetic diversity along the guts of mice inoculated with human stool [In review]
Michael Wasney*, Leah Briscoe*, Richard Wolff, Hans Ghezzi, Carolina Tropini, Nandita Garud
Single-cell genomics improves the discovery of risk variants and genes of atrial fibrillation [Nature Communications, 2023]
Alan Selewa, Kaixuan Luo, Michael Wasney, Linsin Smith, Xiaotong Sun, Chenwei Tang, Heather Eckart, Ivan P. Moskowitz, Anindita Basu, Xin He & Sebastian Pott
* Denotes equal contribution.
Brief CV
- Current: PhD Genetics & Genomics, UCLA, 2021-present
I have been fortunate to receive funding support from:
[Download full CV]