Greehey CCRI Seminar Series: Harmit Malik, PhD (Fred Hutch Cancer Center)
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Dr. Harmit Malik studies genetic conflict, the competition between genes and proteins with opposing functions that drive evolutionary change. His research could have implications for various diseases, from HIV to cancer. As part of this work, his team developed an approach for identifying genes that divide one species from another, which could help solve the riddle of how new species evolve. Dr. Malik also studies the evolutionary processes that drive our body’s interactions with viruses, including contemporary scourges like HIV and ancient viruses whose fossils litter our genome. With Hutch’s colleagues, he has characterized the rapidly evolving interface between proteins in human cells and viruses that make us sick. This work has highlighted surprising deviations from “textbook” models of these interactions, revealing gene variants that could influence our susceptibility to infection.
Learn more about Dr. Malik’s research.
Greehey CCRI Host: Katsumi Kitagawa, PhD