Michael C. Fontaine
Research Assistant Professor
Email: michael.fontaine (at) nd (dot) edu
Office: 311 Galvin Life Sciences
Phone #: 574-631- 3904
I am a population geneticist whose research focuses on analyzing genome-wide patterns of variation within and between species to address fundamental questions in biology, anthropology, and medicine. Since my master thesis seven years ago, I have worked on a variety of organisms and model systems ranging from human, marine mammals, and domesticated plants to pathogens and mosquitoes. I have been particularly interested in using genetic approaches for understanding how populations and species responded and sometimes adapted to changes in environmental or ecological conditions. My research interest lies at the interface of ecology, evolutionary biology, computational biology, and statistical genetics. Examples of my research accomplishments include:
- Inferring and understanding from the analysis of standing genetic variation the impact of past and present environmental changes on the population biology of threatened species (e.g., harbour porpoise, European otter) (during my phD).
- Inferring the phylogeographic history of plant pathogens with respect to the demographic history of their hosts; retracing the invasion routes of pathogens; and identifying from genome-wide approaches candidate genes potentially involved in the pathogen’s adaptation to their hosts (during my first post-doc).
- Analyzing genome-wide patterns of variation for understanding how human populations adapted to distinct life-styles. This work involved developing selection maps of the human genome which pinpoint rapidly evolving genes and genomic regions subject to strong selective constraint, and investigating the fine scale genetic structure of human populations and its implication for genomic medicine.
My primary work in the lab of Pr. NJ Besansky (University of Notre Dame, IN) consists of designing, coordinating and conducting whole-genome analyses to unravel genomic patterns and processes involved in the speciation of the Anopheles gambiae complex. This work is embedded within the framework of three major international consortia including The Anopheles 16 genomes project (NHGRI, NIAD), The MalariaGEN Ag1000 project (WTCHG, UK) and the HEGs consortium (FNIH). I am also contributing to other projects in the lab and am involved in PhD student and young post-doc supervision. My primary interest in these projects includes inferring the history of speciation in major African vectors of malaria, identifying which environmental or anthropogenic factors could have favored or triggered speciation processes in these vectors, and determining the molecular bases of adaptation to a very wide range of habitats.