Open position for a postdoctoral researcher to study the genetic basis of adaptation against infection and disease at Ashoka University

PROJECT Genetic basis of adaptation against infection and disease PROFILE A postdoctoral research position funded by DBT/Wellcome Trust is available in my research group, in the Department of Biological Sciences at Ashoka University.  The lab is primarily interested in tracking the complex dynamics of evolving immune responses against pathogenic infections and disease, using diverse methods …

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Exciting news! Dev is awarded Erasmus Mundus fellowship

Congratulations Dev for getting into the prestigious Erasmus Mundus Master Programme in Evolutionary Biology with a full scholarship. Dev is one of the founding UG student members of our lab and pulled off some super cool studies to seek evolutionary explanations of "why males and females differ in their immunity and disease responses" (This study …

Delighted to conduct a session on ‘Writing a Grant Proposal (as part of India Alliance Outreach Programme at IIT Madras)

I am glad to reflect on my thoughts about 'writing a grant proposal' (1010-1110; Dec 18). Live suggestions/comments/analyses are welcome Registration link: https://bit.ly/18Dec_Outreach.

New review paper: Understanding pathogen tolerance in wild animals key to pandemic preparedness

Our Review Article has been published as part of ‘Evolutionary Medicine: A Special Issue’ from eLife. To view the Special Issue, visit https://elifesciences.org/collections/8d9426aa/evolutionary-medicine-a-special-issue. In this article, we argue that host immune strategies, ecology and pathogen prevalence all play crucial roles in allowing spillover, but studying them in isolation is far from ideal given the complex interactions …

Open Position for PhD in Evolutionary Biology of Infection & Disease (Application Deadline: November 1st, 2021)

Our lab will have an open position for prospective PhD students interested in exploring the emerging & unique interface of Evolution, Disease and Immunology. Selected candidates will have the opportunity to work in various ongoing projects to understand the ecological patterns and processes of infection and disease in a population; how optimal immune strategies against …

#New funding received for exploring the evolutionary genomics of immunity against co-infecting pathogens

We are very happy to secure some funding for Srijan Seals's Doctoral Dissertation work on Evolution of immune responses against co-infecting pathogens from Multi-Institutional Faculty Interdisciplinary Research Project (MFIRP) scheme of IIT Delhi. In addition to creating exciting experimental evolution lines, we will work very closely with Dr. Ishaan Gupta (IITD) to probe genomic signatures …

Had a fabulous summer course on Evolutionary Biology & Infectious Disease with school students organised by Ashoka_X

It was great to teach this pre-college Evolutionary Biology & Infectious Disease summer course for school students (7th-11th Grade) on "Darwinian Dilemmas of the Pandemic Century". Very new experience altogether. Enjoyed those open ended discussion/ ultra curiosity on why some animals become carriers of severe disease-causing viruses but do not fall ill themselves? How did …

New BMC Biology paper on why sexes differ in immunity and Infection outcomes

In many animals, including humans, males and females respond differently to infection and disease. Why do they do so? Do they have different immunity? How do they evolve such responses? We try to find answers to these most fundamental questions about animal immunity in our recently accepted work in BMC Biology. Using seed beetles as …

PhD position (Students with JRF only): Immunity, disease and climate changes

Can rapid environmental changes such as climate warming and food scarcity influence how organisms evolve immunity against new infections & disease? What is the genetic basis? If you are interested in such fundamental evolutionary questions and looking for activating your CSIR/ DBT/ICMR Fellowship; contact me for more information or apply here Our lab and projects …

New Preprint- Evolution of pathogen tolerance and emerging infections: A missing experimental paradigm

We are repeatedly warned against newer zoonotic diseases (transferred from non-human animals to humans) in future, resulting from our rapid insurgence into natural ecosystems. How/Why do these zoonotic infections arise? Where will they come next? Such understanding will be far from complete unless we start tracking myriad evolutionary interactions of immunity, ecology and life-history of …