Peter Andolfatto
Genetics of Complex Traits Section, Associate Editor
Peter Andolfatto is a professor of biological sciences at Columbia University. He received a BS in biochemistry from Simon Fraser University and a PhD in genetics from the University of Chicago, followed by postdoctoral training in evolutionary genetics at the University of Edinburgh. His lab studies the evolutionary processes shaping genome evolution and the genetic mechanisms underlying adaptation, focusing on what constrains the rate of adaptation and predicting its genetic basis. Work in the lab spans from recurrent adaptations in single proteins to the genetic basis of complex phenotypes such as coloration and morphological evolution, population genomics, molecular genetics, and computational biology in a diverse range of model and non-model organisms. He has received numerous honors, including the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship and the Canada Research Chair in Evolutionary Genetics.
Elspeth Burford
Computational Resources, Software, and Databases Section, from Associate Editor to Senior Editor
Elspeth Burford is currently a Research Professor at the University of Cambridge and leads the Human Genome Organization (HUGO) Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC, www.genenames.org), the sole worldwide authority on the naming of human genes. He obtained his PhD from the University of Edinburgh (MRC Human Genetics Unit) studying the genetics of hereditary retinal disorders, and joined HGNC in 1998. In 2007 she moved the HGNC group from University College London to the European Bioinformatics Institute (HGNC) at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory where she joined the HGNC group. A group coordinator till 2018. In 2016, HGNC established a sister project, the Vertebrate Gene Nomenclature Committee (VGNC, vertebrate.genenames.org), which provides standardized names for key vertebrates and coordinates with existing vertebrate nomenclature groups.
Kazu Emoto
Neurogenetics Section, Associate Editor
Kazuo Emoto is a professor of biological sciences at the University of Tokyo working on neural development and function. After earning a PhD in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Tokyo and working on the molecular mechanisms of lipid metabolism and transport, he received postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Yuh-Ning John and Lily John at the University of California, San Francisco, where he began his studies on molecular and cellular mechanisms of function. Drosophila. He is currently interested in the molecular and cellular control of developmental neural plasticity and the adaptive control of sensory processing and behavior.
Toshi Kai
Molecular Genetics of Development Section, Associate Editor
Toshikai is a professor at Kyoto University, having recently moved his laboratory from Osaka University. He received his PhD from Osaka University and did postdoctoral research at the Carnegie Institution for Science/Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). During his tenure at Osaka University, he played a prominent role in academic administration, serving as advisor to the president.
Kai’s research focuses on the molecular mechanisms that control germ cell maintenance and differentiation. Drosophila. His work has been key in elucidating the functional significance of “Navage”—a conserved non-membranous organelle and germ cell identity—by revealing its role as a specialized site for piRNA biogenesis. This process is essential for silencing transposable elements and protecting genome integrity across generations. By combining genetic and biochemical methods, his group uncovers the basic biological principles that ensure the continuation of life through germs.
Harmeet Malik
Population and Evolutionary Genetics (Empirical) Section, Associate Editor
Harmeet Singh Malik is Professor and Associate Director in the Division of Basic Sciences at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, an HHMI Investigator, and Adjunct Professor of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington. Trained as a chemical engineer at IIT Bombay and as an evolutionary geneticist at the University of Rochester, he has built a career exploring how genetic conflict and molecular “arms races” shape centromeres, chromosome segregation, genome defense, and host-virus interactions. Hormet’s research focuses on understanding centromere drive, meiotic segregation, rapidly evolving chromatin proteins, and innate immune restriction factors, showing how evolutionary pressures can repeatedly reinvent basic cellular machinery. His lab’s contributions have been recognized with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the Valsack Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science, the Eli Lilly & Company–Elanco Research Award from the American Society for Microbiology, the Edward Nowitzki Prize from the Genetics Society of America, the National Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. American Academy of Microbiology, and Indian National Science Academy. He is past president and past president of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. Drosophila Board (“Flyboard”). Malik is also the recipient of Fred Hutch’s MacDougall Mentoring Award and considers mentoring his trainees his most important scientific contribution. His expertise lies in this. Drosophila Genetics, molecular evolution, virology, and chromosome biology.
Yansong Miao
Cellular Genetics Section, Associate Editor
Yansong Miao is an Associate Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, working in plant cell biology, biomolecular condensation, and cellular signaling. He received his BS from Zhejiang University and his graduate training at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. During his postdoctoral work at the University of California, Berkeley, he investigated actin assembly, cell polarity, and membrane-associated signaling mechanisms. He is interested in understanding how biomolecular condensates organize plant cells in space and time, and how phase separation regulates plant immunity, cytoskeletal remodeling, and adaptive responses to environmental signals. His lab combines quantitative living plant imaging, molecular genetics, biophysics, AI, synthetic biology, and systems-level approaches to study how dynamic molecular assemblies control signaling at the host–pathogen interface and during cellular morphogenesis. He is an NRF investigator and was selected as an EMBO Global Investigator for his work on molecular condensation in plant immunity.
Allison O’Donnell
Cellular Genetics Section, Associate Editor
Alison O’Donnell trained in biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of New Brunswick and Dalhousie University, Canada, earning her BS, MSc and Ph.D. Her postdoctoral work at Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, with Martha Cyrt and Jeremy Thorner, respectively, proved transformative. It was here that he first characterized what are known as α-arrestins, a fundamentally important and previously unrecognized family of protein trafficking adapters. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh. His lab investigates how α-arrestins—conserved, cargo-selective adapters—direct membrane proteins through clathrin-mediated and clathrin-independent endocytic pathways, mediated by major signaling hubs including TORC1, AMPK, and calcineurin. His group also explores how cancer drugs such as 2-deoxyglucose exploit these trafficking mechanisms, and how brand-new proteins generated from non-coding DNA navigate the cellular machinery to establish themselves in the proteome.
