My research interests are in the areas of molecular evolution and the way that gene frequencies change over the course of time in populations of organisms. On-going work involves characterization of the way that the biosynthetic costs of amino acids influence their frequency of use in prokaryotic genes and how a gene's context influences the mutations that it accumulates. Other studies examine the effect of environmental stressors on the genetic diversity of naturally occurring populations of organisms.
We are also involved with the use and development of computer-based tools to evaluate DNA evidence associated with criminal investigations. My consulting company, Forensic Bioinformatics (www.bioforensics.com), reviews DNA testing results from hundreds of court cases around the world each year. The large amounts of data associated with those reviews lends itself to meta-analyses that allow us to develop tools and approaches that make forensic DNA profiling more reliable and objective.