Renowned human geneticist Sarah Tishkoff, PhD, recipient of the 2024 Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science, will deliver her Vanderbilt Prize Discovery Lecture at 4 p.m. March 6 in 208 Light Hall.
Tishkoff, whose groundbreaking research at the University of Pennsylvania has broad implications for understanding and treating human disease, will discuss “African Evolutionary Genomics: Reconstructing Human Evolution and the Genetic Basis of Complex Adaptive Traits.”
Her lecture is sponsored by the offices of Jennifer Pietenpol, PhD, Chief Scientific and Strategy Officer, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and John Kuriyan, PhD, Dean of Basic Sciences, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
In announcing the award in July, Pietenpol said Tishkoff’s “pioneering work has significantly advanced our understanding of human genetic ancestry and its implications for health. Her dedication to mentoring the next generation of scientists and her innovative contributions to genomics exemplify the spirit of the Vanderbilt Prize.”
Established in 2006, the Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science recognizes scientists of national reputation who have a stellar record of research accomplishments and who are known for mentoring others in science. Recipients mentor a Vanderbilt Prize Student Scholar, a graduate student in the biomedical sciences in the School of Medicine.
The 2024 Scholar, who has been mentored by Tishkoff, is Kimberlyn Ellis, a graduate student in the Training Program in Human Genetics. She will be recognized during the Discovery Lecture.
Tishkoff is the David and Lyn Silfen University Professor in Genetics and Biology at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and president of the American Society of Human Genetics.
In 1996, Tishkoff and her colleagues published the first paper to support the “Out-of-Africa” hypothesis, an explanation of the geographic origin and early migration of modern humans.
Her group also was one of the first to report the genomic signature of natural selection in a human population, in this case the emergence of a mutation that confers resistance to malaria.
Another highly cited paper, published in 2007, was the first to show the convergent evolution over thousands of years of a cultural and genetic trait — cattle domestication and persistence of the lactase gene, associated with the ability to digest milk.
Tishkoff will discuss integrative genomic analyses she has applied to reconstruct human evolutionary history in Africa and the genetic basis for observable traits, such as body size and disease susceptibility, which enable adaption to different environments and diets.
