Brenna Henn
Key Documents
Contact Information
- Academic Offices
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Professional Overview
Professional Education
| Doctor of Philosophy: | Stanford University, ANSCI-PHD (2009) |
| Master of Science: | Stanford University, ANSCI-MS (2005) |
| Bachelor of Arts: | Stanford University, PHILO-BA (2003) |
Stanford Advisors
| Carlos Bustamante: | Postdoctoral Faculty Sponsor |
Community and International Work
Scientific Focus
Current Research Interests
Genetic variation outside of Africa is greatly reduced compared to the amount of genetic variation found within Africa. Populations from neighboring regions in Africa, e.g. east vs. south, can be as different genetically as, for example, the Italians differ from the Chinese. I have focused primarily on the demographic history of African hunter-gatherer populations like the Hadza and Sandawe of Tanzania, and Kalahari KhoeSan populations of South Africa. I continue to be interested in topics at the intersection of genetics and anthropology such as the evolution of human longevity and natural selection on skin pigmentation. My current research projects in the Bustamante Lab include the history of migration into North Africa, fieldwork in southern Africa, refining migration models of the Out-of-Africa expansion using full genome sequence data, patterns of selection in populations with different demographic histories and phenotype/genotype associations in diverse populations.
Publications
- Cryptic distant relatives are common in both isolated and cosmopolitan genetic samples. PLoS One. 2012; (4): e34267
- Genomic Ancestry of North Africans Supports Back-to-Africa Migrations. PLoS Genet. 2012; (1): e1002397
- New insights into the Tyrolean Iceman''s origin and phenotype as inferred by whole-genome sequencing. Nat Commun. 2012: 698
- Demographic history and rare allele sharing among human populations. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011; (29): 11983-8
- Hunter-gatherer genomic diversity suggests a southern African origin for modern humans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011; (13): 5154-62
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