Principal Investigator

Jeffrey D. Jensen – Beginning research as a BSc student at the Univ of Arizona (advised by Michael Nachman) and as an undergraduate research abroad fellow at the Univ of Edinburgh (advised by Brian Charlesworth), Jeff went on to earn a PhD at Cornell in 2006 studying population genetics (advised by Chip Aquadro and Carlos Bustamante), followed by postdoctoral research as an NSF Biological Informatics Fellow at UCSD and UC Berkeley (advised by Doris Bachtrog, Peter Andolfatto, and Rasmus Nielsen). Jeff founded the Jensen Lab in 2009, and in 2016 re-located the group from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) to Arizona State Univ (ASU), where he is a Professor in the School of Life Sciences, a core member of the Center for Evolution & Medicine (CEM), and an affiliated member of the Center for Mechanisms of Evolution (CME). The Jensen Lab works in theoretical and computational population genetics and evolutionary genomics, with previous funding from the ERC, Swiss NSF, DARPA, DoD, NSF, and NIH. The Lab is currently funded primarily by an NIH Established-Investigator MIRA (R35) award. googlescholar   pubmed  

Research Scientists

Takahiro Maruki – Beginning research as a BS student at Tokyo Metropolitan University in Biology, Takahiro went on to earn a PhD at Arizona State University in 2011 studying the effects of selection and genetic drift in structured populations (advised by Yuseob Kim and Jay Taylor), followed by postdoctoral research at Indiana University developing statistical methods for the population genomic analysis of high-throughput sequencing data (advised by Mike Lynch), and an appointment as a Research Associate at McGill University (advised by Melania Cristescu) working in both population- and functional-genomic analyses. In the Jensen Lab (jointly-appointed in the Pfeifer Lab), Takahiro is focused on primate population genomics. googlescholar  pubmed

Vivak Soni – Beginning research as a MSc student at Imperial College in Bioinformatics, Viv went on to earn a PhD at the Univ of Sussex in 2021 studying human population genomics (advised by Adam Eyre-Walker). Following three years of postdoctoral research in the Jensen Lab, Viv was appointed as a Research Scientist in 2024. His work is focused on statistical method development, evolutionary modeling, as well as on large-scale computational genomic analyses. googlescholar  pubmed

Postdoctoral Researchers

 

Adriana Calahorra-Oliart – Beginning research as a BSc/MSc student at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico (UNAM) in Evolutionary Biology, Adriana went on to earn a PhD at UNAM in 2022 studying molecular and morphological evolution in bats (advised by Livia León-Paniagua), followed by postdoctoral research in bioinformatics at the Univ of North Carolina (advised by Laurel Yohe). In the Jensen Lab, Adriana is focused on evolutionary modeling as well as on large-scale computational genomic analyses. googlescholar

Erangi Heenkenda – Beginning research as a BSc student at the Univ of Ruhuna and MSc student at the Univ of Florida (on a Fulbright Award), Erangi went on to earn a PhD at Purdue in 2024 studying the population / conservation genomics of aquatic species (advised by Andrew DeWoody), followed by postdoctoral research at the USDA’s National Veterinary Science Laboratory as an ORISE fellow (advised by Rachel Palinski). Erangi will join the Jensen Lab (jointly-appointed in the Pfeifer Lab) in Summer 2025 to focus on primate population genomics. googlescholar   pubmed

Gabriella Spatola – Beginning research as a BS/MS student at the Univ of South Carolina in Evolutionary Biology, Gabby went on to earn a PhD as an Intramural Research Fellow at the NIH National Human Genome Research Institute in 2025 studying the genetic architecture of free-breeding dog populations in Chernobyl and the Galápagos islands (advised by Elaine Ostrander). Gabby will join the Jensen Lab (jointly-appointed in the Pfeifer Lab) in Summer 2025 to focus on primate population genomics.  googlescholar   pubmed

John Terbot II – Beginning research as a BSc student at Ohio State Univ in Entomology and Evolution, Terbot went on to earn a PhD at the Univ of Kentucky in 2021 studying social behavior in pine sawflies (advised by Catherine Linnen), followed by postdoctoral research at the Univ of Montana working on within-patient SARS-CoV-2 population genomics (co-advised together with Jeff Good and Brandon Cooper). In the Jensen Lab, Terbot is focused on evolutionary modeling as well as on large-scale computational genomic analyses.  googlescholar   pubmed

Undergraduate Researchers

Philip DeSmet – Phil is a BSc student in Biological Sciences gaining research experience in the Jensen Lab, with a focus on primate population genomics.

Devangana Shah – Devangana is a BSc student in Biological Sciences gaining research experience in the Jensen Lab, with a focus on primate population genomics.  googlescholar