Posted 31 July 2023
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Irene Gallego Romero as Head of SVI’s new Human Genomics and Evolution Laboratory.
Director, Professor Tom Kay, said Dr Gallego Romero’s expertise will expand bioinformatics capabilities at SVI while breaking new ground in computational and molecular biology.
“Irene and her lab are focussed on genetic differences between human populations, personalised medicine, and global health equity. We are delighted she is bringing her considerable talent to SVI,” he said.
Dr Gallego Romero’s work on gene expression in extinct human species has led to breakthroughs in understanding our own evolution.
“The lack of diversity in human genomic datasets limits even the questions we can ask about genetic diseases,” Dr Gallego Romero said.
“It’s only when we start to explore a greater breadth of human populations can we even begin to understand the ways natural selection and evolutionary change have shaped us as a species.”