Claudia A. Witzig

Postdoctoral Researcher

Email: Claudia.A.Witzig.1 (at) nd (dot) edu

Office: 311 Galvin Life Sciences

Phone#: 574-631-3904

 

I received my undergrad degree in biology in Germany and Scotland. I gained a BSc from the University of Edinburgh and subsequently a MSc from the Technische Universität München in 2007 focusing on plant breeding in my master’s thesis.

My interest in vector biology began with my PhD at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine during which I researched the genetics of insecticide resistance in two African malaria vectors, Anopheles gambiae s.s. and An. arabiensis using mainly QTL mapping.

I joined the Besansky Lab at the University of Notre Dame in October 2012. With this move came the opportunity to transition from classical genetics to computational genomics. My research interest is to study molecular evolution, distribution and population genetics of mosquitoes to gain insight into their biology, ecology and movement.

Currently, my research interest is focusing on Anopheles funestus, one of the main but less studied African malaria vectors. This is a highly anthropophilic, endophilic mosquito species and its malaria transmission exceeds that of An. gambiae in many parts of Africa. Anopheles funestus display extraordinary abilities to adapt to a range of environments. Exploring ecological adaption to better understand population structure and disease epidemiology of this mosquito is an important step for vector control. I am using next generation sequencing to compare genomic patterns of diversity and divergence of chromosomal forms within this species. Specifically, I am interested in the following questions: (i) Are the groups we compare genomically distinct? (ii) If true, are these areas of genomic divergence widespread or localized? (iii) Does divergence result from genetic drift or selective process (iv)? Which genes or genomic regions have been affected by selection? (v) Can they be related to “ecotypic” divergences?

Outside of science my main interest is road cycling. During my PhD in the UK I was an active member of the Liverpool Century Road Club, spending countless hours riding the hills of stunning north Wales.