Abstract:
In this talk, I will show how recent advances in genome sequencing and ancient DNA technologies have allowed us to study human population genetics with unprecedent details. I will present our research on the formation of genetic diversity in different parts of the world, from Sub-Saharan Africa to the Himalayan mountain range, showing that only by studying all human populations we can fully understand trait and disease architecture. The talk will then focus on the Middle East - a key region for understanding human evolution and migration due to its location and history, yet still one of the most underrepresented areas in genetic studies. I will explain how we have reconstructed the genetic history of the Middle East starting from hundreds of thousands of years ago up to the present day and show how climate change, technological transitions, and cultural practices have all shaped the genomes of the Middle Easterners.

Bio:
Marc Haber is an Associate Professor and Group Leader at the University of Birmingham, where he also serves as Director of the Health Data Science Programme at the Dubai campus. His research sits at the intersection of population genetics, bioinformatics, and health data science, with a focus on historically underrepresented populations to uncover how their unique genomic history has shaped present-day disease prevalence. Previously, he was affiliated with the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge and the Institute of Evolutionary Biology at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, where his work contributed to understanding the genetic formation of diverse global populations. At Birmingham, his research group uses large-scale sequencing data from both modern and ancient populations to investigate human genetic diversity and its influence on traits and diseases, with a particular emphasis on the Middle East and its critical role in human evolution and migration.