Ryan Hernandez, PhD

Co-Vice Dean of Diversity, Equity, and In­clu­sion
Professor
Hernandez
Phone: +1 415 514-9813
Fax: +1 415 514-4231
1700 4th Street, Rm 508E
UCSF Box 2530
San Francisco, CA 94158
United States

What I do

Along with Stephanie Hsia, PharmD, MEd, and Sharon L. Youmans, PharmD, MPH, I lead the School’s various initiatives for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), with an emphasis on unifying the DEI efforts of community members and smaller units within the School.

I am a professor studying patterns of human genetic variation from global populations using large-scale whole genome sequencing data in order to understand genetic susceptibility to disease and drug response.

My research expertise

population genetics, computational biology

Professional background

Biography

Dr. Ryan Hernandez’ research focuses on computational genomics and complements the department’s emerging strengths in quantitative sciences and genomics: First, he seeks to characterize the patterns of genetic variation within and between populations using large-scale genome resequencing data. A second branch of research in his lab focuses on developing novel population genetic simulation techniques. Such simulations are used to lend insight into the plausible evolutionary forces that have shaped patterns of genetic variation, including the implications of complex interactions among selected alleles in non-stationary demographic environments. His third branch of research seeks to exploit population genetic models of demographic history and natural selection to interrogate the genetic basis of disease. By capitalizing on recent theoretical advances, Dr. Hernandez is constructing models of population dynamics that will utilize genomic re-sequencing data to discover novel regions of the genome that underlie genetic susceptibility to disease and drug response.

Research keywords

  • human evolution
  • Population and evolutionary genetics/genomics
  • statistical genetics/genomics
  • 1000 Genomes Project
  • population structure and admixture
  • computational biology and bioinformatics
  • bioengineering
  • Human Genome
  • Multifactorial Inheritance
  • Demography
  • Genetics, Population
  • Haplotypes
  • Molecular Evolution
  • Mexican Americans
  • Models, Genetic
  • Selection, Genetic
  • Chromosomes, Human, Pair 22
  • Genetic Variation
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
  • Homozygote
  • Pan troglodytes
  • Genome-Wide Association Study