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Immune-mediated diseases are among the strongest selective pressures driving human evolution. The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) locus that encodes human leukocyte antigen (HLA) proteins plays a vital role in our adaptive immune responses, and thus is crucial in understanding the human evolutionary process. Several non-competing natural selective regimes exist to explain how the MHC locus evolved, including balancing, and pathogen-driven positive and negative selection. However, owing to the complicated genomic structure of the MHC locus, it remains challenging to nominate specific genomic variations and haplotypes driving the observed selection signatures. In this talk, we will characterize HLA diversity among Gambian, China, Latino American and African American individuals. We will clarify selection dynamics that shaped the MHC locus in HLA selection signals.

Ruth is a first year DPhil student being awarded with the AfOx Kennedy Trust Prize Studentship. Yang is a group leader and KTRR senior research fellow in data science at the Kennedy Insitute of Rheumatology. Her group develops statistical methods and computational software to better understand the genetic contribution towards immune-mediated traits with a particular focus on the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region. 

 

Hybrid option

Please note, these meetings are closed meetings and only open to members of the University of Oxford to encourage sharing of new and unpublished data. Please respect our speakers and do not share the link with anyone outside of the university.

The aim of these seminars is to increase interaction between people working in Genomics across the University so we encourage in person attendance wherever possible!

 

Join the Teams meeting

Meeting ID: 387 831 272 420
Passcode: 4XWXLH