Dr Erwan Pennarun

Profile

I am a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Population Genetics at the Clinical Effectiveness Group, within the Centre for Primary Care. My research focuses on applying methods developed for detecting signals of natural selection that occur due to evolution. These inferred signals are often good genetic candidates for observed differences in health outcomes across ancestrally diverse groups.

I work with Dr. Moneeza Siddiqui on a Barts Charity-funded cross-institutional collaboration with the School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, I am leading investigations to determine if the phenotypes resulting from these genetics changes could have become maladaptive in a changing environment, potentially leading to various metabolic disorders, with a specific emphasis on type 2 diabetes in South Asians. These methods provide a complementary discovery science approach to Genome-Wide Association Studies when samples sizes are limited, which is unfortunately the case for most non-European populations.

I received my MSc. from the École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris, where I conducted studies and research in oncogenetics. I then transitioned to population genetics by joining the Estonian Biocentre at the University of Tartu (UT). There, I studied human migrations using phylogeographic approaches based on mitochondrial DNA for my PhD in Molecular Biology. After successfully completing my PhD, I worked as a Research Fellow at the Estonian Biocentre of the Institute of Genomics, UT.

My idea of fun is hurling myself, a heavy metal bar or a shuttlecock through air and strapping metal tanks around me to marvel at wrecks. I can also speak extempore on matters relating to cheese and bread.

Research

Research Interests:

Natural selection

Local adaptation

Machine Learning

Type 2 diabetes in south Asian populations