Antonis Rokas

Embarking on a new research project often brings unexpected discoveries—some intriguing, some novel, but rarely a find of a lifetime. Such a remarkable discovery occurred when university archivist and associate director Kathy Smith stumbled upon a pile of plaster, hidden away for 60 years in a dim, cluttered closet of the Branscomb Quad basement. This plaster turned out to be the long-lost Crampton’s Plesiosaur Cast from the 1870s, missing for nearly six decades. Read More

Research projects investigating the history of evolution at Vanderbilt University led to the rediscovery of a long-lost Crampton’s Plesiosaur Cast from the 1870s. Read More

A mere decade ago, decoding the genome of every organism in a major branch of the tree of life and deciphering their diets was a pipe dream. In a groundbreaking study, a team of researchers from Vanderbilt University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and other institutions worldwide have done just that for the first time ever. Led by Abigail LaBella, a postdoctoral researcher in the Rokas Lab, an international research team used the genomes and diets of nearly all known species from an ancient lineage of yeasts to understand the evolution of generalists and specialists.  Read More

Beckman Scholar Charu Balamurugan, an undergraduate researcher in the Rokas lab at Vanderbilt University, has shed light on the intricate evolutionary patterns governing secondary metabolite biosynthesis in fungi. Balamurugan delved deep into the genomes of Penicillium species, uncovering fascinating insights into the conservation and evolution of biosynthetic gene clusters and associated resistance genes. Read More

Kyle David, an NSF postdoctoral fellow in the Rokas lab, and co-authors published a new paper, “Saccharomycotina yeasts defy longstanding macroecological patterns” in the high-impact journal PNAS. This paper, which looks at the ecology of 186 species of yeast, provides evidence that not all life-forms follow the rules. Read More

Kyle David, an NSF postdoctoral fellow in the Rokas lab, and co-authors published a new paper, 'Saccharomycotina yeasts defy longstanding macroecological patterns' in the high-impact journal PNAS. This paper, which looks at the ecology of 186 species of yeast, provides evidence that not all life-forms follow the rules. Read More

Marie-Claire Harrison, a graduate student in the Department of Biological Sciences, has been named the 2023 recipient of the Brighter Ventures Student Award. The Brighter Ventures Student Award supports Ph.D. students interested in the application of artificial intelligence in the biomedical research field. Read More

Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs C. Cybele Raver has appointed a committee to conduct a national search for the next dean of Vanderbilt University’s College of Arts and Science. The committee consists of a range of faculty from Arts and Science and collaborating colleges, as well as non-faculty peers. Read More

Annie Hatmaker, along with a team of researchers including her adviser, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Biological Sciences Antonis Rokas, recently published a study identifying the differences in virulence among Aspergillus species, a common human-pathogenic genus of fungi. Read More

Graduate student measures the coevolution of genes in genomes; method may fundamentally change how we identify genes with similar functions. Read More

Jacob Steenwyk, a sixth-year doctoral student studying biology in The Rokas Lab, is a recipient of the 2022 Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award presented by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. He is the second Vanderbilt student ever to receive this honor. Read More

Six Vanderbilt University faculty members have been elected 2020 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers. Read More

The first comprehensive study of how diverse evolutionary forces influence the leading cause of infant mortality is led by Vanderbilt researchers. Read More

A team of scientists at Vanderbilt has discovered the first known instance of a hybrid fungal species causing aspergillosis, an ensemble of different types of lung infections that often impacts immune-compromised people. Read More

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute has awarded Gilliam Fellowships for Advanced Study to three Vanderbilt University doctoral students and their advisers. The grants are designed to support new scientific leaders and foster diversity and inclusion in the sciences. Read More

The Vanderbilt Evolutionary Studies Initiative seeks to position the university as a global leader in evolutionary studies by engaging a large group of scholars who share this research interest. Read More

A group of budding yeasts in the genus Hanseniaspora, which is closely related to the baker’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, has lost large numbers of genes related to cell cycle and DNA repair processes. Read More

Antonis Rokas, who holds the Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair in Biological Sciences, has been elected a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. He was among the 109 new fellows welcomed by the academy in 2019. Read More

Evolutionary biologists decoded the genomes of nearly a third of known budding yeast species, allowing them to reconstruct an ancient parent’s metabolic characteristics. Read More

Twenty faculty members have been appointed to the new Limited Submission Opportunities Plus review committee to help bring innovative research to the attention of external sponsors. Read More