Curriculum Vitae
Barbara Kruger. 1985. Untitled (seen). Lithograph and color screenprint on paper
Education:
1978 B. Sc. in Biology, Tel Aviv University, Israel
1980 M. Sc. in Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Israel
1985 Ph. D. in Genetics, University of Texas, USA
1986 Postdoctoral work, Universität Tübingen, Germany
Shusaku Arakawa. 1961. Untitled. Pencil on paper
Research interests:
My research interests consist of several theoretical, statistical, and analytical topics within the broad area of molecular evolution. The following topics are currently under active investigation:
(1)
Reconstruction of phylogenetic relationships among and within eutherian orders. Such studies are also concerned with questions pertaining to the monophyly or paraphyly of higher taxa.
(2)
Assessing of the relative contributions of different molecular mechanisms in generating gaps (deletions and insertions) in DNA evolution. Such studies are useful in determining empirical gap-penalty values for usage in computer alignment algorithms.
(3) Determination of the validity and applicability of the "molecular clock" concept to protein-coding genes and pseudogenes at the inter- and intraordinal levels.
(4) Elucidation of the relative roles of mutation and drift versus purifying selection in determining the pattern of nucleotide substitution. A major part of this study involves the inferrence of selective processes in the evolution of genes through the identification of parallel and convergent amino-acid replacements.
(5) Assessment of the efficiency and efficacy limits of alignment and phylogenetic reconstruction methods.
(6) Physico-chemical characterization of deleterious and neutral amino-acid replacements.
(7) Evolution of multiprotein-coding genes and reconstruction of the order of internal gene duplications.
(8) Development of maximum-likelihood and Bayesian methodologies for the reconstruction of ancestral amino-acid sequences.
(9) Development of methodologies for the identification of contact points within the three-dimensional structure of proteins by using evolutionary and phylogenetic information.
(10) Identification of pseudogenes within completely sequenced genomes and determination of nonfunctionalization times.
(11) Identifying the conditions for the alternative or constitutive exonization of intronic sequences.
(12) Producing dynamic and static descriptions of the compositional features of genomes.
Deborah Kass. 1989-1990. Subject matters. Enamel, gold leaf, acrylic on canvas
Short-term visiting appointments:
1987-1991. Center for Demography & Population Genetics,
University of Texas, Houston, USA
1989. Lehrstuhl für Humangenetik, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany
1989-1990. Department of Genetics & Ecology,
Åarhus Universitet, Denmark
1991. Lehrstuhl für Populationsgenetik, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany
1992. Data Library, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany
1993. Department of Genetics & Human Variation,
La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
1994. National Center for Bioinformatics, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, USA
1995. Department of Biometry, Genetics & Population Biology,
Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, France
1997. Center for Information Biology, National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, Japan.
1998. Genetics Centers, University of Texas, Houston, USA.
2000. Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, France
2002. Department of Biological Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Japan
Alexander Brodsky and Ilya Utkin. 1993. Dome. Etching and collage on cast paper, wood
Editorial duties:
1991-1997. Member of the Editorial Board of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
1992-1998. Editor-in-Chief of Israel Journal of Zoology
1995-. Associate Editor of Molecular Biology and Evolution
1999-. Member of the editorial board of Israel Journal of Zoology
Larry Bell. 1968. Terminal series. Glass and chrome