Dr. María Ávila-Arcos is Assistant Professor at the International Laboratory for Human Genome Research at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. María earned a PhD in paleogenomics from the University of Copenhagen and trained as a post-doctoral fellow in population genomics and global health at Stanford University. María's previous work included the characterization of ancient genomes with an emphasis on the New World using emerging sequencing technologies and statistical methods. María is currently PI of the Afro-Mexico Genomics Project, a project that aims to characterize the contribution of the TransAtlantic Slave Trade to admixture observed in present-day Mexico. As part of this project, she and her research team have developed culturally-sensitive informed consent protocols and approaches to returning genetic ancestry results to participants. The Ávila-Arcos lab also has projects related to Prehispanic Mexico and Colonialism's impact on genetic diversity over time with possible implications for contemporary disease risk and precision medicine opportunities in populations traditionally underrepresented in genomics.
Recent Publications
- Villa-Islas, V, Izarraras-Gomez, A, Larena, M, Campos, EMP, Sandoval-Velasco, M, Rodríguez-Rodríguez, JE, Bravo-Lopez, M, Moguel, B, Fregel, R, Garfias-Morales, E et al.. Demographic history and genetic structure in pre-Hispanic Central Mexico. Science 2023; 380 (6645): eadd6142. PubMed PMID:37167382 .
- Ávila-Arcos, MC. The gene variant that helped put Latinxs in the 1000 genomes project. Nat Rev Genet 2022; 23 (12): 712-713. PubMed PMID:36198907 .
- Gopalakrishnan, S, Ebenesersdóttir, SS, Lundstrøm, IKC, Turner-Walker, G, Moore, KHS, Luisi, P, Margaryan, A, Martin, MD, Ellegaard, MR, Magnússon, ÓÞ et al.. The population genomic legacy of the second plague pandemic. Curr Biol 2022; 32 (21): 4743-4751.e6. PubMed PMID:36182700 PubMed Central PMC9671091.
- Ávila-Arcos, MC, de la Fuente Castro, C, Nieves-Colón, MA, Raghavan, M. Recommendations for Sustainable Ancient DNA Research in the Global South: Voices From a New Generation of Paleogenomicists. Front Genet 2022; 13 : 880170. PubMed PMID:35559028 PubMed Central PMC9086539.
- Somel, M, Altınışık, NE, Özer, F, Ávila-Arcos, MC. Collaborate equitably in ancient DNA research and beyond. Nature 2021; 600 (7887): 37. PubMed PMID:34848866 .
- Ioannidis, AG, Blanco-Portillo, J, Sandoval, K, Hagelberg, E, Barberena-Jonas, C, Hill, AVS, Rodríguez-Rodríguez, JE, Fox, K, Robson, K, Haoa-Cardinali, S et al.. Paths and timings of the peopling of Polynesia inferred from genomic networks. Nature 2021; 597 (7877): 522-526. PubMed PMID:34552258 PubMed Central PMC9710236.
- Guzmán-Solís, AA, Villa-Islas, V, Bravo-López, MJ, Sandoval-Velasco, M, Wesp, JK, Gómez-Valdés, JA, Moreno-Cabrera, ML, Meraz, A, Solís-Pichardo, G, Schaaf, P et al.. Ancient viral genomes reveal introduction of human pathogenic viruses into Mexico during the transatlantic slave trade. Elife 2021; 10 : . PubMed PMID:34350829 PubMed Central PMC8423449.
- Bravo-Lopez, M, Villa-Islas, V, Rocha Arriaga, C, Villaseñor-Altamirano, AB, Guzmán-Solís, A, Sandoval-Velasco, M, Wesp, JK, Alcantara, K, López-Corral, A, Gómez-Valdés, J et al.. Paleogenomic insights into the red complex bacteria Tannerella forsythia in Pre-Hispanic and Colonial individuals from Mexico. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 375 (1812): 20190580. PubMed PMID:33012233 PubMed Central PMC7702795.
- Ioannidis, AG, Blanco-Portillo, J, Sandoval, K, Hagelberg, E, Miquel-Poblete, JF, Moreno-Mayar, JV, Rodríguez-Rodríguez, JE, Quinto-Cortés, CD, Auckland, K, Parks, T et al.. Native American gene flow into Polynesia predating Easter Island settlement. Nature 2020; 583 (7817): 572-577. PubMed PMID:32641827 PubMed Central PMC8939867.
- Dehasque, M, Ávila-Arcos, MC, Díez-Del-Molino, D, Fumagalli, M, Guschanski, K, Lorenzen, ED, Malaspinas, AS, Marques-Bonet, T, Martin, MD, Murray, GGR et al.. Inference of natural selection from ancient DNA. Evol Lett 2020; 4 (2): 94-108. PubMed PMID:32313686 PubMed Central PMC7156104.
