Emily Wroblewski, PhD

Dr. Emily Wroblewski is an anthropological geneticist studying primate molecular ecology, population genetics, and evolutionary genetics/genomics. Dr. Wroblewski studies a variety of species, currently focusing on studies of wild African apes (chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla) and monkeys. Her work sits at the intersection of (ecological) immunology, disease ecology, and behavioral ecology. Of particular interest, Dr. Wroblewski studies the genetics/genomics of diverse and rapidly-evolving gene complexes that encode molecules important to innate and adaptive immunity. She studies how variation within these genes, and the molecules they encode, relates to immunity and patterns of disease (such as SIV and malaria) in wild populations, and she elucidates the patterns of selection and co-evolution between host and pathogens that has occurred within the primate lineage. Because certain immune molecules have additional functions in reproduction and social behavior, Dr. Wroblewski also uses their patterns of molecular diversity to understand how the selective pressures from these different, and often-competing, components of fitness have been balanced throughout primate evolution.