faculty photo

Sarah A. Tishkoff, Ph.D.

David and Lyn Silfen University Professor
Department: Genetics

Contact information
428 Clinical Research Building
415 Curie Boulevard
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6145
Office: 215-746-2670
Fax: 215-573-2326
Email: tishkoff@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Executive Assistant:
Ameena Al-Amin
Office: 215-746-2324
Email: alamin@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
,
Education:
B.S. (Anthropology & Genetics)
University of California, Berkeley, 1989.
M.Phil. (Human Genetics, Kenneth Kidd adviser)
Yale University, 1992.
Ph.D. (Genetics, Kenneth Kidd adviser)
Yale University, 1996.
Post-Graduate Training
Visiting Research Fellow, South African Institute of Medical Research, University of the Witwatersrand, Department of Human Genetics (Trefor Jenkins, adviser), 1997-1997.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pennsylvania State University, Department of Biology (Andrew Clark adviser), 1997-2000.
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Description of Research Expertise

African Integrative Evolutionary Genomics
We combine field work, laboratory work, and computational approaches to address fundamental questions about modern human evolutionary history and the genetic architecture of traits related to adaptation and disease risk in Africa. We are using an integrative genomics approach, incorporating genomic, proteomic, epigenetic, transcriptomic, metabolomic, and microbiome data obtained from ethnically diverse Africans living in distinct environments to identify genetic and environmental factors that play a role in a number of anthropometric, metabolomic, cardiovascular, and immune related traits. Many of these traits are likely to play a role in adaptation and some may play a role in disease susceptibility. We are characterizing gene and transcription networks to study how naturally occurring genetic and structural variation perturbs them. We are also studying how these networks are impacted by variable environmental factors such as lifestyle, diet, drug response, and infectious disease exposure. Additionally, we are examining patterns of genetic variation at the genome level among modern humans and non-human primates in order to elucidate the evolutionary forces (mutation, gene conversion/recombination, migration, drift, selection) that shape and maintain genetic variation in contemporary populations. These data are being used to reconstruct historical demographic and population differentiation events (including population expansion and contraction, subdivision, and migration) and to test hypotheses of modern human origins, including the possibility of introgression of archaic and modern human genomes.

African Genomic and Phenotypic Diversity Project
Most studies of human genomic variation and the genetic architecture of complex traits have focused on non-African populations. However, Africa is a critical region to study since it is the site of modern human origins, contains the greatest levels of human genetic variation, and is the source of the worldwide range expansion of modern humans in the past 100,000 years. Africa also has a high prevalence of several infectious diseases including HIV, malaria, and TB, resulting in millions of deaths per year. Additionally, several common complex diseases occur at higher frequency in African Americans, and are rapidly on the rise in urban regions of Africa, including hypertension, obesity, and type II diabetes. Differences in diet, climate, and exposure to pathogens among ethnically and geographically diverse African populations are likely to have produced distinct selection pressures, resulting in local genetic adaptations, some of which may play a role in disease susceptibility.

To address the disparity of human genomic studies in Africa, we and African collaborators have assembled an extensive and unique collection of DNA samples from >9,000 geographically and ethnically diverse Africans with distinct diets (hunter-gatherers, pastoralists, agriculturalists) and living in diverse environments with differing pathogen exposure. Additionally, for these samples we have detailed ethnographic and nutritional information as well as detailed phenotype data for a wide range of anthropometric, cardiovascular, metabolic, and immune related traits. Great care is taken to conduct this research in an ethical manner. We have undergone extensive ethical review and approval at the institutional and national level in each African country, obtained group and individual consent, and returned results to participants whenever possible. An additional goal is to help train African scientists and students and to help build resources within Africa for doing human genomics research.

In collaboration with our African colleagues, we are analyzing genomic data from this unique set of samples. From these studies, we will gain valuable knowledge of the genetic structure of African populations and the identification of markers that will be useful in gene mapping studies; we will learn about the correlation of environmental, cultural, linguistic, and genetic variation; we will be able to obtain estimates of demographic parameters and to test hypotheses of modern human origins and more recent population migration and differentiation events; we will identify functional regulatory elements that influence gene expression; we will identify genomic variants and pathways that play a role in human adaptation, phenotypic variation, and disease risk in African and African diaspora populations. Because non-African populations generally contain a subset of variation present in Africa, and because of low-levels of linkage disequilibrium in African populations, these studies will also be informative for fine-mapping of genetic variants associated with normal variable traits and disease risk in non-Africans.

The genetic basis of resistance to infectious disease
It is likely that infectious disease has played a major role in human evolution and in shaping genetic variation in the human genome. Thus, one focus of my laboratory is the study of human genetic variation and the evolutionary history of genes involved in resistance against infectious disease. We are characterizing patterns of genetic variation in candidate genes for resistance/susceptibility to malaria, TB, HIV, and trypanosomes in a set of globally diverse populations, but with an emphasis on African populations. Our goal is to identify functionally significant genetic variation that plays a role in susceptibility to infection. In addition, we are collaborating with laboratories that are studying genetic variation in the pathogens causing these disorders in order to examine co-evolution of infectious agents and their human hosts. Recent examples of this work include studies of G6PD, ICAM1, and glycophorin genes that play a role in malaria resistance and the APOL1 gene that plays a role in resistance to trypanosome infection, but is also associated with risk for kidney disease in African populations.

The genetic basis of adaptation in humans
We currently know little about how changes at the genetic level correlate with phenotypic changes and adaptation to novel environments during recent human evolutionary history. Additionally, it has been hypothesized that genetic mutations associated with common complex diseases (e.g. hypertension, diabetes, obesity, asthma, arthritis, allergies, etc.) may be at high frequency in modern populations because they were adaptive in ancient environments. Thus, characterization of signatures of natural selection in genes that are of adaptive significance may be of use for identifying functionally significant variants, some of which may play a role in human disease. We are particularly interested in identifying local adaptation in culturally and geographically diverse Africans, because of the possibility that selective forces, and genetic variants, may be geographically restricted. We are also interested in developing and applying methods for distinguishing balancing selection, soft selective sweeps (i.e. selection from standing variation), and selection of loci involved in complex traits. Recent examples of our studies of local adaptation in Africa includes the identification and characterization of natural selection at loci that play a role in lactose tolerance in African pastoralists, the genetic basis of adaptation to high altitude in Ethiopia, and the genetic basis of the short stature trait in Western African Pygmies.

Selected Publications

Tishkoff, S. A., Varkonyi, R., Cahinhinan, N., Abbes, S., Argyropoulos, G., Destro-Bisol, G., Drousiotou, A., Dangerfield, B., Lefranc, G., Loiselet, J., Piro, A., Stoneking, M., Tagarelli, A., Tagarelli, G., Touma, E. H., Williams, S. M., Clark, A. G.: Haplotype diversity and linkage disequilibrium at human G6PD: recent origin of alleles that confer malarial resistance. Science 293(5529): 455-62, 2001.

Tishkoff, S. A., Reed, F. A., Ranciaro, A., Voight, B. F., Babbitt, C. C., Silverman, J. S., Powell, K., Mortensen, H. M., Hirbo, J. B., Osman, M., Ibrahim, M., Omar, S. A., Lema, G., Nyambo, T. B., Ghori, J., Bumpstead, S., Pritchard, J. K., Wray, G. A., Deloukas, P.: Convergent adaptation of human lactase persistence in Africa and Europe. Nature Genetics 39(1): 31-40, 2007.

Campbell, M. C., Tishkoff, S. A.: African genetic diversity: implications for human demographic history, modern human origins, and complex disease mapping. Annual Review Genomics and Human Genetics 9: 403-33, 2008.

Tishkoff, S. A., Reed, F. A., Friedlaender, F. R., Ehret, C., Ranciaro, A., Froment, A., Hirbo, J. B., Awomoyi, A. A., Bodo, J. M., Doumbo, O., Ibrahim, M., Juma, A. T., Kotze, M. J., Lema, G., Moore, J. H., Mortensen, H., Nyambo, T. B., Omar, S. A., Powell, K., Pretorius, G. S., Smith, M. W., Thera, M. A., Wambebe, C., Weber, J. L., Williams, S. M.: The genetic structure and history of Africans and African Americans. Science 324(5930): 1035-44, 2009.

Bryc, K., Auton, A., Nelson, M.R., Oksenberg, J.R., Hauser, S.L., Williams, S., Froment, A., Bodo, J.M, Wambebe, C., Tishkoff*, S.A., and Bustamante, C.D.*: Genome-wide patterns of population structure and admixture in West Africans and African Americans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107(2): 786-91, Jan 12 2010 Notes: * Contributed equally as co-senior authors.

Scheinfeldt, L. B., Soi, S., Tishkoff, S. A.: Colloquium paper: working toward a synthesis of archaeological, linguistic, and genetic data for inferring African population history. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107 Suppl 2: 8931-8, 2010.

Ko, W. Y., Kaercher, K. A., Giombini, E., Marcatili, P., Froment, A., Ibrahim, M., Lema, G., Nyambo, T. B., Omar, S. A., Wambebe, C., Ranciaro, A., Hirbo, J. B., Tishkoff, S. A.: Effects of Natural Selection and Gene Conversion on the Evolution of Human Glycophorins Coding for MNS Blood Polymorphisms in Malaria-Endemic African Populations. American Journal of Human Genetics 88(6): 741-54, June 2011.

Jarvis, J. P., Scheinfeldt, L. B., Soi, S., Lambert, C., Omberg, L., Ferwerda, B., Froment, A., Bodo, J. M., Beggs, W., Hoffman, G., Mezey, J., Tishkoff, S. A.: Patterns of ancestry, signatures of natural selection, and genetic association with stature in Western African pygmies. PLoS genetics 8(4): e1002641, 2012.

Lachance, J., Vernot, B., Elbers, C. C., Ferwerda, B., Froment, A., Bodo, J. M., Lema, G., Fu, W., Nyambo, T. B., Rebbeck, T. R., Zhang, K., Akey, J. M., Tishkoff, S. A.: Evolutionary history and adaptation from high-coverage whole-genome sequences of diverse African hunter-gatherers. Cell 150(3): 457-69, 2012.

Campbell, M. C., Ranciaro, A., Froment, A., Hirbo, J., Omar, S., Bodo, J. M., Nyambo, T., Lema, G., Zinshteyn, D., Drayna, D., Breslin, P. A., Tishkoff, S. A.: Evolution of functionally diverse alleles associated with PTC bitter taste sensitivity in Africa. Molecular biology and evolution 29(4): 1141-53, 2012.

Scheinfeldt, L. B., Soi, S., Thompson, S., Ranciaro, A., Woldemeskel, D., Beggs, W., Lambert, C., Jarvis, J. P., Abate, D., Belay, G., Tishkoff, S. A.: Genetic adaptation to high altitude in the Ethiopian highlands. Genome biology 13(1): R1, 2012.

Gomez, F., Tomas, G., Ko, W. Y., Ranciaro, A., Froment, A., Ibrahim, M., Lema, G., Nyambo, T. B., Omar, S. A., Wambebe, C., Hirbo, J. B., Rocha, J., Tishkoff, S. A.: Patterns of nucleotide and haplotype diversity at ICAM-1 across global human populations with varying levels of malaria exposure. Human genetics 132(9): 987-99, 2013.

Scheinfeldt, L. B., Tishkoff, S. A.: Recent human adaptation: genomic approaches, interpretation and insights. Nature reviews. Genetics 14(10): 692-702, 2013.

Ko, W. Y., Rajan, P., Gomez, F., Scheinfeldt, L., An, P., Winkler, C. A., Froment, A., Nyambo, T. B., Omar, S. A., Wambebe, C., Ranciaro, A., Hirbo, J. B., Tishkoff, S. A.: Identifying Darwinian selection acting on different human APOL1 variants among diverse African populations. American journal of human genetics 93(1): 54-66, 2013.

Gomez, F., J. Hirbo, and S.A. Tishkoff: African Population Genetic History and Evidence for Local Adaptation in African Populations. Who Are We? Human Diversity and Race from a Contemporary Genetics Perspective. Chakravarti, A. (eds.). Cold Spring Harbor Press, (eds.), 2014.

R. A. Rawlings-Goss, M. C. Campbell, S.A. Tishkoff: Global Population-specific Variation in miRNA associated with Cancer Risk and Clinical Biomarkers. BMC Medical Genomics 7(53): doi: 10.1186/1755-8794-7-53, Aug 2014.

Ranciaro, A., Campbell, M.C., Hirbo, J.B., Ko, W.-Y., Froment, A., Destro-Bisol, G., Kotze, M.J., Ibrahim, M., Nyambo, T., Omar, Tishkoff, S.A. : Genetic origins of lactase persistence and the spread of pastoralism in Africa. American Journal of Human Genetics 3(94(4)): 496-510, 2014.

Campbell, M.C., Ranciaro, A., Zinshteyn, D., Rawlings-Goss, R., Hirbo, J.B., Thompson, S.I., Woldemeskel, D., Froment, A., Rucker, J.B., Omar, S.A., Bodo, J.-M., Nyambo, T., Belay, G., Drayna, D., Breslin, P.A.S., Tishkoff, S.A. : Origin and differential selection of allelic variation at TAS2R16 associated with salicin bitter taste sensitivity in Africa Molecular Biology and Evolution 31(2): 288-302, 2014.

Campbell, M., Hirbo J., J. Townsend, S.A. Tishkoff: The Peopling of the African Continent and the Diaspora into the New World. Curr Opin Genet Dev. 29: 120-32, Dec 2014.

Lachance, J. Tishkoff S.A. : Biased gene conversion skews allele frequencies in human populations, increasing the disease burden of recessive alleles. Am J Hum Genet. 95(4): 408–420, Oct 2014 Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2014.09.008.

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Last updated: 03/05/2020
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