Statistical methods for analysing complex genomic variation in human pathogens

Zamin studies the genomes of different strains of pathogens that cause human diseases. Unlike humans, whose DNA all looks remarkably similar, pathogen strains often have significantly different genomes, which they achieve by swapping large chunks of DNA. These differences are very important, as it is known that strains of a pathogen acquire new abilities (e.g. drug resistance in MRSA, immune evasion, or even the ability to infect humans) through these mutations. Zamin's lab aims to provide insight into pathogen biology and epidemiology, and directly assist clinical decisions, by producing computational tools that analyse new samples or outbreaks in the context of the 'super-genome' of the entire species.