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Unearthing fungal chemodiversity and prospects for drug discovery

A Robust Phylogenomic Time Tree for Biotechnologically and Medically Important Fungi in the Genera Aspergillus and Penicillium

Genome-wide analysis of Fusarium verticillioides reveals inter-kingdom contribution of horizontal gene transfer to the expansion of metabolism

Signatures of Recent Positive Selection in Enhancers Across 41 Human Tissues

Extensive loss of cell-cycle and DNA repair genes in an ancient lineage of bipolar budding yeasts

Research in Rokas' lab focuses on the study of the DNA record to gain insight into the patterns and processes of evolution. Through a combination of computational and experimental approaches, his current research aims to understand the evolution of human pregnancy, the molecular foundations of the fungal lifestyle, and the reconstruction of the tree of life. His discoveries have been reported in the world’s premier journals, receiving thousands of citations, and been recognized by many awards, including an endowed chair (2013), a Chancellor’s Award for Research (2011), an NSF CAREER award (2009) and a Searle Scholarship (2008). He serves as an Associate Editor in several journals including Evolution, Medicine & Public Health, PLoS ONE, BMC Microbiology, and G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics.

Rokas received his undergraduate degree in Biology from the University of Crete, Greece and his PhD from Edinburgh University in Scotland. Prior to joining Vanderbilt in the summer of 2007, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a research scientist at the Broad Institute.

Tree of Life

Mosquito Functional Genomics

Evolution of Fungal Metabolism

Molecular Evolution

Evolutionary Development

Comparative Functional Genomics

Phylogenetics

Evolution of the Human Genome

Evolution

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This Fungus Mutates. That’s Good News if You Like Cheese.

A Battle Is Raging in the Tree of Life

I’m an evolutionary biologist – here’s why this ancient fungal fossil discovery is so revealing

An outlaw yeast thrives with genetic chaos – and could provide clues for understanding cancer growth

What did the ancestor of all animals look like?

This article is more than 1 year old Evolution row ends as scientists declare sponges to be sister of all other animals

How animals appeared on Earth: Analysis of Australian rock reveals that a flood of nutrients 650 million years ago led to a growth of algae that fed the first creatures on our planet

Your Most Distant Animal Relative Is Probably This Tiny Jelly

Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair in Biological Sciences

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