Dr. Harmit Malik studies genetic conflict, the competition between genes and proteins with opposing functions that drives evolutionary change. His research could have implications for a range of diseases, from HIV to cancer. As part of this work, his team developed an approach for identifying genes that divide one species from another, which could help solve the riddle of how new species evolve. Dr. Malik also studies the evolutionary processes that drive our body’s interactions with viruses, including contemporary scourges like HIV as well as ancient viruses whose fossils litter our genome. With Hutch colleagues, he has characterized the rapidly evolving interface between proteins on human cells and viruses that make us sick. This work has highlighted surprising deviations from “textbook” models of these interactions, and it is revealing gene variants that could influence our susceptibility to infection.

My lab is committed to enhancing diversity by increasing the participation of individuals from diverse backgrounds, including those from underrepresented groups, in biomedical sciences. Two of the eleven students who have finished their Ph.D. studies in my lab are from underrepresented communities. We have trained nearly two dozen undergraduate students from underrepresented groups in post-baccalaureate or research technician positions, and in summer internships; the vast majority of these students went on to Ph.D. or M.D. or M.D./Ph.D. studies.