Personal profile in our Scientific Output Portal (PPC)

ResercherID: D-5382-2014

Scopus Author ID: 7003976031

Short biographical sketch

Head of the Human Genome Diversity Group at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) in Barcelona and Director of the Department of Experimental and Health Sciences (CEXS) at the UPF since 2016. He obtained his PhD in Biology at the University of Barcelona. After predoctoral and postdoctoral stays at the Zoologisches Institut (LMU, Munich), the Anthony Nolan Trust-Royal Free Hospital (London), and the Department of Forensic Medicine (University of Helsinki), studying human population genetics, he established his group at the CEXS-UPF. He is now full professor at the UPF, member of the Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC-UPF), from which he was the vice-Director (2014-2016). His research is focused on the analysis of the genome diversity in human populations in order to define and quantify the processes that have modeled the present genomic variation in humans. His research has also been focused on the phenotypic consequences, including disease, of the present variation in humans.

Research lines

Human Genome Diversity.
Population Genetics.
Genome Variation and Disease Susceptibility.
Genome Evolution and Disease.

Recognitions, distinctions and awards received throughout the career (selected)

ICREA Academia Award. Calls 2011 and 2016

Publications

Selected publications in the last 5 years (2015-2020):

1. Vargas-Pinilla P, Paixão-Côrtes VR, Paré P, Tovo-Rodrigues L, Vieira CM, Xavier A, Comas D, Pissinatti A, Sinigaglia M, Rigo MM, Vieira GF, Lucion AB, Salzano FM, Bortolini MC (2015) Evolutionary pattern in the OXT-OXTR system in primates: coevolution and positive selection footprints. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 112:88-93
2. Sudmant PH, Mallick S, Nelson BJ, Hormozdiari F, Krumm N, Huddleston J, Coe BP, Baker C, Nordenfelt S, Bamshad M, Jorde LB, Posukh OL, Sahakyan H, Watkins WS, Yepiskoposyan L, Abdullah MS, Bravi CM, Capelli C, Hervig T, Wee JTS, Tyler-Smith C, van Driem G, Gallego  Romero I, Jha AR, Karachanak-Yankova S, Toncheva D, Comas D, Henn B, Kivisild T,Ruiz-Linares A, Sajantila A, Metspalu E, Parik J, Villems R, Starikovskaya EB, Ayodo G, Beall CM, Di Rienzo A, Hammer M, Khusainova R, Khusnutdinova E, Klitz W, Winkler C, Labuda D, Metspalu M, Tishkoff SA, Dryomov S, Sukernik R, Patterson N, Reich D, Eichler EE (2015) Global diversity, population stratification, and selection of human copy number variation. Science 349 (6253):aab3761
3. Lazaridis I,  Nadel D, Rollefson G, Merrett DC, Rohland N, Mallick S, Fernandes D, Novak M, Gamarra B, Sirak K, Connell S, Stewardson K, Harney E, Fu Q, Gonzalez-Fortes G, Jones ER, Alpaslan Roodenberg S, Lengyel G, Boquetin F, Gasparian B, Monge JM, Gregg M, Eshed V, Mizrahi AS, Meiklejohn C, Gerritsen F, Bejenaru L, Blüher M, Campbell A, Cavalleri F, Comas D, Froguel P, Gilbert E, Kerr SM, Kovacs P, Krause J, McGettigan D, Merrigan M, Merriwether DA, O’Reilly S, Richards MB, Semino O, Shamoon-Pour M, Stefanescu G, Stumvoll M, Tönjes A, Torroni A, Wilson JF, Yengo L, Hovhannisyan NA, Patterson N, Pinhasi R, Reich D (2016) Genomic insights into the origin of farming in the ancient Near East. Nature 536:419-424
4. Arauna LR, Mendoza-Revilla J, Mas-Sandoval A, Izaabel H, Bekada A, Benhamamouch S, Fadhlaoui-Zid K, Zalloua P, Hellenthal G, Comas D (2017) Recent historical migrations have shaped the gene pool of Arabs and Berbers in North Africa. Molecular Biology and Evolution 34:318-329
5. Amorim CEG, Nunes K, Meyer D, Comas D, Bortolini MC, Salzano FM, Hünemeier T (2017) Genetic signature of natural selection in first Americans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 114:2195-2199
6. Pimenta J, Lopes AM, Comas D, Amorim A, Arenas M (2017) Evaluating the Neolithic expansion at both shores of the Mediterranean. Molecular Biology and Evolution 34: 3232-3242
7. Lorente-Galdos B, Lao O, Serra-Vidal G, Santpere G, Kuderna LFK, Arauna LR, Fadhlaoui-Zid K, Pimenoff VN, Soodyall H, Zalloua P, Marques-Bonet T, Comas D (2019) Whole-genome sequence analysis of a Pan African set of samples reveals archaic gene flow from an extinct basal population of modern humans into sub-Saharan populations. Genome Biology 20:77
8. Font-Porterias, Arauna LR, Poveda A, Bianco E, Rebato E, Prata MJ, Calafell F, Comas D (2019) European Roma groups show complex West Eurasian admixture footprints and a common South Asian genetic origin. PLoS Genetics 15(9): e1008417
9. Serra-Vidal G, Lucas-Sanchez M, Fadhlaoui-Zid K, Bekada A, Zalloua P, Comas D (2019) Heterogeneity in Palaeolithic population continuity and Neolithic expansion in North Africa. Current Biology 29:3953-3959
10. Castro e Silva MA, Nunes K, Lemes RB, Mas-Sandoval A, Amorim CEG, Krieger JE, Mill JG, Salzano MS, Bortolini MC, da Costa Pereira A, Comas D, Hünemeier T (2020) Genomic insight into the origins and dispersal of the Brazilian coastal natives. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 117 (5) 2372-2377.

Theses supervision

Theses supervision in the last 5 years (2015-2020):

André Flores-Bello

PhD Thesis: Population genetic landscape of Basques

University: Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona

Simone Andrea Biagini

PhD Thesis: Human population genomics of the Western Mediterranean

University: Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona

Joao Carlos Ramos de Azevedo Pimenta

PhD Thesis: Human migrations and population dynamics in the Western Mediterranean: from the Neolithic to the present

University: Universidade do Porto, Portugal

Gerard Serra Vidal

PhD Thesis: Insights into the human demographic history of Africa through whole-genome sequence analysis

University: Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona

Àlex Mas Sandoval

PhD Thesis: Native American genetic history through admixed populations of Brazil (co-directed by Maria Cátira Bortolini, UFRGS)

University: Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona/ Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre

Neus Solé-Morata

PhD Thesis: Infering recent human population history from a Y chromosome perspective (co-directed by Francesc Calafell, UPF)

University: Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona

Lara Rubio Arauna

PhD Thesis: Genetic structure of North African human populations: a complex history of admixture

University: Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelon