Description: Christina Bergey is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Genetics at Rutgers University, working on evolutionary genomics.
Population and Evolutionary Genomics
At the Bergey Lab in the Rutgers University Department of Genetics , our research aims to understand how organisms adapt to their environment with a focus on the evolution of complex, polygenic traits. To do so, we use population, evolutionary, and functional genomic approaches to understand the effects of past selection on modern medically-relevant phenotypes, testing evolutionary hypotheses in humans, non-human primates, and disease vectors.
Our group has a particular interest in understanding the factors that influence infection and mortality from infectious diseases that disproportionately impact the poor and marginalized. An increasing focus of our research is the role of climate change and habitat disturbance on infectious disease risk.