GENETICS

Peter Andolfatto

Genetics of Complex Traits Section, Associate Editor

Peter Andolfatto is a professor of biological sciences at Columbia University. He received a BS in biochemistry from Simon Fraser University and a PhD in genetics from the University of Chicago, followed by postdoctoral training in evolutionary genetics at the University of Edinburgh. His lab studies the evolutionary processes shaping genome evolution and the genetic mechanisms underlying adaptations, with a focus on what constrains the rate of adaptation and the predictability of its genetic basis. Work in the lab spans from repeated adaptations in single proteins to the genetic basis of complex phenotypes such as pigmentation and morphological evolution, leveraging population genomics, molecular genetics, and computational biology across a diverse range of model and non-model organisms. He has received numerous honors including an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship and a Canada Research Chair in Evolutionary Genetics.

Elspeth Bruford

Computational Resources, Software, and Databases Section, stepping up from Associate Editor to Senior Editor

Elspeth Bruford is currently a research professor at the University of Cambridge and leads the Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC,www.genenames.org), the sole authority worldwide for naming human genes. She received her PhD from the University of Edinburgh (MRC Human Genetics Unit) for studying the genetics of inherited retinal disorders, and joined the HGNC in 1998. In 2007 she relocated the HGNC group from University College London to the European Molecular Biology Laboratory’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) at Hinxton, UK where she was a group coordinator until 2018.  In 2016, HGNC established a sister project, the Vertebrate Gene Nomenclature Committee (VGNC, vertebrate.genenames.org), which provides standardized nomenclature for key vertebrates and coordinates with existing vertebrate naming groups. 

Kazuo Emoto 

Neurogenetics Section, Associate Editor

Kazuo Emoto is a professor of biological sciences at the University of Tokyo working on neural development and function. After obtaining his PhD in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Tokyo and working on molecular mechanisms of lipid metabolisms and transport, he did his postdoc training in the laboratory of Yuh-Nung Jan and Lily Jan at University of California,San Francisco, where he started his studies on molecular and cellular mechanisms of neural development and function in Drosophila. He is currently interested in molecular and cellular control of developmental neural plasticity and flexible control of sensory processing and behavior.

Toshie Kai

Molecular Genetics of Development Section, Associate Editor

Toshie Kai is a professor at Kyoto University, having recently relocated her laboratory from the University of Osaka. She earned her PhD from the University of Osaka and conducted postdoctoral research at the Carnegie Institution for Science/Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). During her tenure at the University of Osaka, she contributed significantly to academic administration, serving as an advisor to the president.

Kai’s research focuses on the molecular mechanisms governing the maintenance and differentiation of germline cells using Drosophila. Her work has played a key role in defining the functional significance of the “nuage”—a conserved non-membrane organelle and hallmark of germ cells—by demonstrating its role as a specialized site for piRNA biogenesis. This process is essential for silencing transposable elements and protecting genome integrity across generations. By combining genetic and biochemical approaches, her group continues to uncover fundamental biological principles that ensure the continuity of life through the germline.

Harmit Malik

Population and Evolutionary Genetics (Empirical) Section, Associate Editor 

Harmit Singh Malik is professor and co‑associate director in the Division of Basic Sciences at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, an HHMI Investigator,  and an adjunct professor of genome sciences at the University of Washington. Trained as a chemical engineer at IIT Bombay and as an evolutionary geneticist at the University of Rochester, he has built a career uncovering how genetic conflict and molecular “arms races” shape centromeres, chromosome segregation, genome defense, and host-virus interactions. Harmit’s research focuses on understanding centromere drive, meiotic segregation, rapidly evolving chromatin proteins, and innate immune restriction factors, revealing how evolutionary pressure can repeatedly reinvent core cellular machinery. His lab’s contributions have been recognized with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science, the Eli Lilly and Company–Elanco Research Award from the American Society for Microbiology, the Genetics Society of America’s Edward Novitski Prize, and election to the US National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Academy of Microbiology, and the Indian National Science Academy. He is a former president of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution and former president of the Drosophila Board (“Fly Board”). Malik is also a recipient of Fred Hutch’s McDougall Mentoring Award and considers his mentorship of trainees to be his most important scientific contribution. His expertise is in Drosophila genetics, molecular evolution, virology, and chromosome biology.

Yansong Miao

Cellular Genetics Section, Associate Editor 

Yansong Miao is an associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, working in plant cell biology, biomolecular condensation, and cellular signaling. He received a BS from Zhejiang University and graduate training at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. During his postdoctoral work at the University of California, Berkeley, he investigated mechanisms of actin assembly, cell polarity, and membrane-associated signaling. He is interested in understanding how biomolecular condensates organize plant cells in space and time, and how phase separation regulates plant immunity, cytoskeletal remodeling, and adaptive responses to environmental signals. His lab combines quantitative living plant imaging, molecular genetics, biophysics, AI, synthetic biology, and systems-level approaches to study how dynamic molecular assemblies control signaling at the host–pathogen interface and during cellular morphogenesis. He is an NRF Investigator and was selected as an EMBO Global Investigator for his work on molecular condensation in plant immunity.

Allyson O’Donnell

Cellular Genetics Section, Associate Editor 

Allyson O’Donnell trained in biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of New Brunswick and Dalhousie University, Canada, earning her BS, MSc, and PhD. Her postdoctoral work with Martha Cyert and Jeremy Thorner at Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, respectively, proved transformative. It was there she first characterized what would become known as the α-arrestins, a fundamentally important and previously unrecognized family of protein trafficking adaptors. She is currently an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh. Her lab investigates how α-arrestins—conserved, cargo-selective adaptors—direct membrane proteins through clathrin-mediated and clathrin-independent endocytic pathways, with precision governed by major signaling hubs including TORC1, AMPK, and calcineurin. Her group also explores how cancer drugs like 2-deoxyglucose exploit these trafficking mechanisms, and how brand-new proteins born from non-coding DNA navigate the cellular machinery to establish themselves within the proteome.

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