Research Interests
Alon Keinan studies how human genetic variation has arisen from evolutionary history. His research focuses on elucidating the history of modern human populations and on developing computational methods for searching for genes important in human biology. With a background in computer science and statistics, Keinan develops theoretical tools and applies them to genomic data sets, bridging theoretical population genetics and empirical studies.
S. Gottipati, L. Arbiza, A. Siepel, A. G. Clark, and A. Keinan.
Analyses of X-linked and autosomal genetic variation in population-scale whole genome sequencing .
Nature Genetics, 43, 741-743 (2011). (Supplementary information )
Y. Y. Waldman, T. Tuller, A. Keinan , and E. Ruppin. Selection for translation efficiency on synonymous polymorphisms in recent human evolution .
Genome Biology and Evolution, Advance Access (2011).
The International HapMap3 Consortium.
Integrating common and rare genetic variation in diverse human populations .
Nature, 467, 52-58 (2010). (Supplementary information )
A. Keinan and D. Reich.
Can a sex-biased human demography account for the reduced effective population size of chromosome X in non-Africans?
Molecular Biology and Evolution, 27, 2312-21 (2010).
K. E. Lohmueller, J. D. Degenhardt, and A. Keinan.
Sex-Averaged recombination and mutation rates on the X chromosome.
American Journal of Human Genetics, 86, 978-981 (2010).
A. Keinan and D. Reich.
Human population differentiation is strongly correlated with local recombination rate.
PLoS Genetics, 6, e1000886 (2010).
A. Keinan , J. C. Mullikin, N. Patterson, and D. Reich.
Accelerated genetic drift on chromosome X during the human dispersal out of Africa.
Nature Genetics, 41, 66-70 (2009). (News and Views ; Supplementary information ; Data )
F. Yu, A. Keinan , H. Chen, R. J. Ferland, R. S. Hill, A. A. Mignault, C. A. Walsh, and D. Reich.
Detecting natural selection by empirical comparison to random regions of the genome.
Human Molecular Genetics, 18, 4853-67 (2009). (Supplemental Data )
A. Keinan , J. C. Mullikin, N. Patterson, and D.
Reich. Measurement
of the human allele frequency spectrum demonstrates greater genetic drift in
East Asians than in Europeans. Nature Genetics, 39, 1251-5 (2007). (Supplementary
information ; Data )
In the News
Ongoing Funding
NIH/DHHS/NHGRI U01-HG005715-01 (with PI: Carlos D. Bustamante). Population structure, admixture and selection across the 1000 Genomes data set
Sloan Research Fellowship, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Robert N. Noyce endowed chair
Teaching
Fall 2011: team-taught BTRY 6700: Applied Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
Spring 2012: BTRY 6820/4820 - Statistical Genomics: Coalescent Theory and Human Population Genomics
Colleagues and Collaborators
Chip Aquadro
Carlos Bustamante
Andy Clark
Jason Mezey
David Reich
Eytan Ruppin
Adam Siepel
Contact Info
Alon Keinan
102C Weill Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca , NY
14853-7202
Office hours: Thursdays, 4-5pm
Tel: (607) 254-1328
Fax: (607) 255-2323
Email: ak735@cornell.edu
To prospective graduate students: please consider any of the following graduate fields
Computational Biology and Medicine
Computational Biology
Genetics and Development
Applied Math
Last update: Nov 2011
"... cause if we cease to ask,
we will cease to grow
if we don't go far,
we will soon fall. "
( Mookie D., translated from Hebrew)