I am a Professor in the Department of Anthropology, a Consulting Curator in the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology, and the Director of the Laboratory of Molecular Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania.
For over thirty years, I have investigated the genetic prehistory of Asia and the Americas through studies of mtDNA, Y-chromosome and autosomal DNA variationin Asian, Siberian and Native American populations. Our current projects include studies of genetic diversity in indigenous populations of Canada, the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean. My research group is also exploring the population history of Georgia (Caucasus), Pakistan and Kazakhstan through our collaborative genetic studies in those countries. Other projects are investigating mitochondrial diseases in human populations as well as the role of the mtDNA in complex diseases, metabolism and adaptation.