Courtney C. Babbitt
Assistant Professor
Biology and Commonwealth
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
United States of America
Biography
My research is in evolutionary genomics and I am interested in changes in gene regulation over evolutionary time that impact phenotypic change. In particular, I investigate the evolution of cis-regulatory elements, the evolution of gene expression, and noncoding RNA at a genome-wide scale.
Research Interest
I am also interested in functionally testing specific rapidly evolving cis-regulatory regions. My current research addresses these essential questions in evolutionary biology as they relate to genetic and phenotypic differences between humans and non-human primates. I integrate both computational and experimental approaches to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the functional changes involved in regulatory evolution and how they contribute to phenotypic evolution.
Publications
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Babbitt, C.C., Warner, L.R., Fedrigo, O., Wall, C.E., Wray, G.A. 2011. Genomic signatures of diet-related shifts in primate evolution. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 278: 961-969.
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Shibata, Y., Sheffield, N., Fedrigo, O., Babbitt, C.C., Wortham, M., Tawari, A.K., London, D., Song, L., Lee, B., Iyer, V.R., Parker, S.C., Margulies, E.H., Wray, G.A., Furey, T.S., Crawford, G.E. 2012. Extensive evolutionary changes in regulatory element activity during human origins are closely associated with altered gene expression and positive selection. PLoS Genetics, 8(6): e1002789.
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Babbitt, C.C., Tung, J, Wray, G.A., Alberts, S.C. 2012. Changes in gene expression associated with reproductive maturation in wild female baboons. Genome Biology and Evolution, 4(2): 102-109.
