Sohini Ramachandran

Computational biology professor

Sohini Ramachandran

Education| Stanford University
Alma mater| Stanford University
Scientific career
Thesis| The signature of historical migrations on human population genetic data (2007)
Doctoral advisor| Marcus Feldman
Website| https://brown.edu/Research/Ramachandran_Lab/

Sohini Ramachandran is professor at Brown University known for her work in evolutionary biology and population genetics.

## Early life and education

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Ramachandran's parents were both professors.[1] In the summer before her senior year of high school, Ramachandran completed a research project in plant genomics under the guidance of Marcus Feldman, which won her the fourth place prize in the 1998 Westinghouse Science Talent Search,[2] where when she was the youngest finalist in the group.[3] Ramachandran earned a B.S. from Stanford University in 2002. She went on to complete a Ph.D. at Stanford University in the Department of Biological Sciences, advised by Marcus Feldman. Her dissertation research was dissertation was titled "The signature of historical migrations on human population genetic data."[4] Following her PhD, she was in the Harvard Society of Fellows as a postdoctoral researcher with John Wakeley in Harvard University's Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology.[5] She moved to Brown University in 2010 and was promoted to professor in 2021.[5] In 2019, she was a fellow at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study.[6]

## Research

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Ramachandran's research group uses statistical and mathematical modeling techniques to study evolutionary biology and population genetics. Her early research examined the genetic relationships originating within people from Africa,[7][8] where she showed that diversity decreases as distance from Africa increases.[9] She has also investigated the use of genetic tools to track infectious diseases[10][11] and shown that while more outbreaks are occurring, fewer people are getting infected.[12] She has also shown a lack of genetic evidence for selection for language at the FOXP2 site.[13]

## Selected publications

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* Li, Jun Z.; Absher, Devin M.; Tang, Hua; Southwick, Audrey M.; Casto, Amanda M.; Ramachandran, Sohini; Cann, Howard M.; Barsh, Gregory S.; Feldman, Marcus; Cavalli-Sforza, Luigi L.; Myers, Richard M. (2008-02-22). "Worldwide Human Relationships Inferred from Genome-Wide Patterns of Variation". Science. 319 (5866): 1100–1104\. Bibcode:2008Sci...319.1100L. doi:10.1126/science.1153717. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 18292342. S2CID 53541133.1100-1104&rft.date=2008-02-22&rft_id=https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:53541133#id-name=S2CID&rft_id=info:bibcode/2008Sci...319.1100L&rft.issn=0036-8075&rft_id=info:doi/10.1126/science.1153717&rft_id=info:pmid/18292342&rft.aulast=Li&rft.aufirst=Jun+Z.&rft.au=Absher,+Devin+M.&rft.au=Tang,+Hua&rft.au=Southwick,+Audrey+M.&rft.au=Casto,+Amanda+M.&rft.au=Ramachandran,+Sohini&rft.au=Cann,+Howard+M.&rft.au=Barsh,+Gregory+S.&rft.au=Feldman,+Marcus&rft.au=Cavalli-Sforza,+Luigi+L.&rft.au=Myers,+Richard+M.&rft_id=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1153717&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Sohini+Ramachandran" class="Z3988">
* Ramachandran, Sohini; Deshpande, Omkar; Roseman, Charles C.; Rosenberg, Noah A.; Feldman, Marcus W.; Cavalli-Sforza, L. Luca (2005). "Support from the relationship of genetic and geographic distance in human populations for a serial founder effect originating in Africa". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 102 (44): 15942–15947\. Bibcode:2005PNAS..10215942R. doi:10.1073/pnas.0507611102. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 1276087. PMID 16243969.15942-15947&rft.date=2005&rft_id=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1276087#id-name=PMC&rft_id=info:bibcode/2005PNAS..10215942R&rft_id=info:pmid/16243969&rft_id=info:doi/10.1073/pnas.0507611102&rft.issn=0027-8424&rft.aulast=Ramachandran&rft.aufirst=Sohini&rft.au=Deshpande,+Omkar&rft.au=Roseman,+Charles+C.&rft.au=Rosenberg,+Noah+A.&rft.au=Feldman,+Marcus+W.&rft.au=Cavalli-Sforza,+L.+Luca&rft_id=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1276087&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Sohini+Ramachandran" class="Z3988">
* Wang, Sijia; Lewis, Cecil M. Jr.; Jakobsson, Mattias; Ramachandran, Sohini; Ray, Nicolas; Bedoya, Gabriel; Rojas, Winston; Parra, Maria V.; Molina, Julio A.; Gallo, Carla; Mazzotti, Guido (2007-11-23). "Genetic Variation and Population Structure in Native Americans". PLOS Genetics. 3 (11): e185. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.0030185. ISSN 1553-7404. PMC 2082466. PMID 18039031.
* Ramachandran, Sohini; Rosenberg, Noah A.; Zhivotovsky, Lev A.; Feldman, Marcus W. (2004). "Robustness of the inference of human population structure: A comparison of X-chromosomal and autosomal microsatellites". Human Genomics. 1 (2): 87–97\. doi:10.1186/1479-7364-1-2-87. ISSN 1479-7364. PMC 3525066. PMID 15601537.87-97&rft.date=2004&rft_id=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3525066#id-name=PMC&rft.issn=1479-7364&rft_id=info:pmid/15601537&rft_id=info:doi/10.1186/1479-7364-1-2-87&rft.aulast=Ramachandran&rft.aufirst=Sohini&rft.au=Rosenberg,+Noah+A.&rft.au=Zhivotovsky,+Lev+A.&rft.au=Feldman,+Marcus+W.&rft_id=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3525066&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Sohini+Ramachandran" class="Z3988">

## Honors and awards

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In 2012, Ramachandran received a Sloan Research Fellowship[14] and was named a Pew Scholar.[15] From Brown University she has received the Henry Merritt Wriston Fellowship (2016)[16] and the Philip J. Bray Award for excellence in teaching.[17] In 2019, she received a Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering.[18][19]

## References

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1. ^ Chen, Ling-Ling; Claw, Katrina G.; Ramachandran, Sohini (2016). "A two-fold challenge: the experience of women of color in genomics". Genome Biology. 17 (1): 210. doi:10.1186/s13059-016-1075-0. ISSN 1474-760X. PMC 5059990. PMID 27729075.
2. ^ Chiu, Yvonne (1998-03-09). "Fair Oaks teen gets national honor". The Sacramento Bee. p. 2. Retrieved 2022-04-17.
3. ^ Alcala, Carlos (1998-01-28). "Fair Oaks teen, like sister, is on academic fast track". The Sacramento Bee. pp. [1], [2]. Retrieved 2022-04-17.
4. ^ Ramachandran, Sohini (2007). The signature of historical migrations on human population genetic data (Thesis). OCLC 269371999.
5. ^ a b "Sohini Ramachandran Lab: people". brown.edu. Retrieved 2022-04-17.
6. ^ "SCAS: Sohini Ramachandran". www.swedishcollegium.se. Retrieved 2022-01-22.
7. ^ Ramachandran, Sohini; Deshpande, Omkar; Roseman, Charles C.; Rosenberg, Noah A.; Feldman, Marcus W.; Cavalli-Sforza, L. Luca (2005). "Support from the relationship of genetic and geographic distance in human populations for a serial founder effect originating in Africa". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 102 (44): 15942–15947\. Bibcode:2005PNAS..10215942R. doi:10.1073/pnas.0507611102. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 1276087. PMID 16243969.15942-15947&rft.date=2005&rft_id=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1276087#id-name=PMC&rft_id=info:bibcode/2005PNAS..10215942R&rft_id=info:pmid/16243969&rft_id=info:doi/10.1073/pnas.0507611102&rft.issn=0027-8424&rft.aulast=Ramachandran&rft.aufirst=Sohini&rft.au=Deshpande,+Omkar&rft.au=Roseman,+Charles+C.&rft.au=Rosenberg,+Noah+A.&rft.au=Feldman,+Marcus+W.&rft.au=Cavalli-Sforza,+L.+Luca&rft_id=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1276087&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Sohini+Ramachandran" class="Z3988">
8. ^ Henn, Brenna M.; Gignoux, Christopher R.; Jobin, Matthew; Granka, Julie M.; Macpherson, J. M.; Kidd, Jeffrey M.; Rodríguez-Botigué, Laura; Ramachandran, Sohini; Hon, Lawrence; Brisbin, Abra; Lin, Alice A. (2011-03-29). "Hunter-gatherer genomic diversity suggests a southern African origin for modern humans". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 108 (13): 5154–5162\. doi:10.1073/pnas.1017511108. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 3069156. PMID 21383195.5154-5162&rft.date=2011-03-29&rft_id=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3069156#id-name=PMC&rft.issn=0027-8424&rft_id=info:pmid/21383195&rft_id=info:doi/10.1073/pnas.1017511108&rft.aulast=Henn&rft.aufirst=Brenna+M.&rft.au=Gignoux,+Christopher+R.&rft.au=Jobin,+Matthew&rft.au=Granka,+Julie+M.&rft.au=Macpherson,+J.+M.&rft.au=Kidd,+Jeffrey+M.&rft.au=Rodríguez-Botigué,+Laura&rft.au=Ramachandran,+Sohini&rft.au=Hon,+Lawrence&rft.au=Brisbin,+Abra&rft.au=Lin,+Alice+A.&rft_id=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3069156&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Sohini+Ramachandran" class="Z3988">
9. ^ Scudellari, Megan (June 2012). "Sohini Ramachandran: Population Tracker". The Scientist Magazine®. Retrieved 2022-04-17.
10. ^ Smith, Katherine F.; Goldberg, Michael; Rosenthal, Samantha; Carlson, Lynn; Chen, Jane; Chen, Cici; Ramachandran, Sohini (2014-12-06). "Global rise in human infectious disease outbreaks". Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 11 (101): 20140950. doi:10.1098/rsif.2014.0950. PMC 4223919. PMID 25401184.
11. ^ Nakka, Priyanka; Raphael, Benjamin J; Ramachandran, Sohini (2016-10-01). "Gene and Network Analysis of Common Variants Reveals Novel Associations in Multiple Complex Diseases". Genetics. 204 (2): 783–798\. doi:10.1534/genetics.116.188391. ISSN 1943-2631. PMC 5068862. PMID 27489002.783-798&rft.date=2016-10-01&rft_id=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5068862#id-name=PMC&rft.issn=1943-2631&rft_id=info:pmid/27489002&rft_id=info:doi/10.1534/genetics.116.188391&rft.aulast=Nakka&rft.aufirst=Priyanka&rft.au=Raphael,+Benjamin+J&rft.au=Ramachandran,+Sohini&rft_id=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5068862&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Sohini+Ramachandran" class="Z3988">
12. ^ Berman, Jessica (October 29, 2014). "Global Infection Outbreaks Rise over Past 30 Years". Voice of America News / FIND; Washington.
13. ^ Atkinson, Elizabeth Grace; Audesse, Amanda Jane; Palacios, Julia Adela; Bobo, Dean Michael; Webb, Ashley Elizabeth; Ramachandran, Sohini; Henn, Brenna Mariah (2018-09-06). "No Evidence for Recent Selection at FOXP2 among Diverse Human Populations". Cell. 174 (6): 1424–1435.e15. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2018.06.048. ISSN 0092-8674. PMC 6128738. PMID 30078708.
14. ^ "Sohini Ramachandran, Ph.D." pew.org. August 23, 2012. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
15. ^ "Eight Women Win Pew Scholarships in the Biomedical Sciences". Women in Academia Report; Bartonsville. July 3, 2012.
16. ^ "Sohini Ramchandran awarded Wriston Fellowship". CCMB | Brown University. Retrieved 2022-04-17.
17. ^ Gimenes, Livia (2021-07-03). "Sohini Ramachandran Receives The Philip J. Bray Award For Excellence In Teaching In The Physical Sciences". awards.cs.brown.edu. Retrieved 2022-04-17.
18. ^ "Two Brown researchers earn top White House award for early-career scientists". Brown University. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
19. ^ Abbey Bigler and Talylor Walter (26 February 2020). "PECASE Honoree Sohini Ramachandran Studies the Genetic Foundations of Traits in Diverse Populations". NIGMS Biomedical Beat Blog. Retrieved 2022-04-17.

## External links

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* Research group website

## External links

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* Sohini Ramachandran publications indexed by Google Scholar