Education
PhD in Genome Sciences
Nathan Clark
University of Pittsburgh
Biological Sciences
Profile
EDUCATION and TRAINING UNDERGRADUATE: 1994 – 1998 University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA Bachelor of Science in Chemistry (1998)
GRADUATE: 2002 – 2007 University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA Ph.D. in Genome Sciences (2007) Advisor: Willie J. Swanson POSTGRADUATE: 2007 – 2011 Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA N.I.H. Postdoctoral Fellow in Genetics Mentor: Charles F. Aquadro
APPOINTMENTS and POSITIONS ACADEMIC: 2007 – 2011 N.I.H. Postdoctoral Fellow Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA 2012 – 2018 Assistant Professor Dept. of Computational and Systems Biology University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine 2016 – 2019 Associate Director of PhD program in Computational Biology Joint Carnegie Mellon University-University of Pittsburgh 2018 – 2019 Associate Professor Dept. of Computational and Systems Biology (now Adjunct) University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine 2019 – 2023 Associate Professor Department of Human Genetics (now Adjunct) University of Utah School of Medicine 2023 – present Associate Professor Department of Biological Sciences University of Pittsburgh
Research
My lab’s vision is to use comparative genomics to study genetic networks and to characterize the co-evolutionary processes that shape them. The projects undertaken in my lab advance knowledge on several fronts, spanning molecular evolution, phylogenetics, and genomics. Lab projects include the inference and characterization of adaptive evolution, magnetosensation, visual perception, and protein function inference through genomic data and evolutionary patterns.
| Student Name | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Dwon Jordana | PhD candidate | DAJ145@pitt.edu |
| Courtney Charleswork | PhD candiate | CJC274@pitt.edu |
| Nethan Ramachandran | Masters student | nethanr@andrew.cmu.edu |
Most Cited Publications
Evolution of reproductive proteins from animals and plants NL Clark, JE Aagaard, WJ Swanson 2006 Reproduction 131 (1), 11-22
Pervasive adaptive evolution in primate seminal proteins NL Clark, WJ Swanson 2005 PLoS Genetics 1 (3), e35
Hundreds of genes experienced convergent shifts in selective pressure in marine mammals M Chikina, JD Robinson, NL Clark 2016 Molecular Biology and Evolution 33 (9), 2182-2192
Coevolution of interacting fertilization proteins NL Clark, J Gasper, M Sekino, SA Springer, CF Aquadro, WJ Swanson 2009 PLoS genetics 5 (7), e1000570
Evolutionary rate covariation identifies new members of a protein network required for Drosophila melanogaster female post-mating responses GD Findlay, JL Sitnik, W Wang, CF Aquadro, NL Clark, MF Wolfner 2014 PLOS Genetics 10 (1), e1004108
Recent Publications
Ultra-fast variant effect prediction using biophysical transcription factor binding models R Hosseini, AT Balci, D Kostka, N Clark, M Chikina 2025 Nucleic Acids Research 53 (18), gkaf940
Phylogenomic Approaches to Study Adaptive Evolution in Mammals: From Aging to Aquatic Lifestyles NL Clark, A Kowalczyk, EEK Kopania, M Chikina 2025 Annual Review of Genetics 59
Female membrane proteins regulate postmating ovulation in Drosophila melanogaster by ovulin-dependent and -independent pathways M Yang, MA White, GD Findlay, RC Vignogna, J Apger-McGlaughon, ... 2025 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 122 (37), e2508783122
Prediction of local convergent shifts in evolutionary rates with phyloConverge E Saputra, W Mao, GH Meyer, N Clark, M Chikina 2025 Bioinformatics 41 (7), btaf366
Integrating Intermediate Traits in Phylogenetic Genotype-to-Phenotype Studies NL Clark, CT Hittinger, H Li-Byarlay, A Rokas, TB Sackton, RL Unckless 2025 Integrative and Comparative Biology 65 (1), 63-73