Filip Ruzicka

I’m interested in linking empirical patterns of genomic variation with theories of adaptive constraint. My work typically combines computational and experimental approaches. During my PhD, I worked on sexually antagonistic polymorphisms, which reflect the genetic constraint on sex-specific adaptation imposed by a shared genome between males and females. I performed a genome-wide association study of sexual antagonism in D. melanogaster, linked these candidate polymorphisms with population genomic signatures of balancing selection, and measured fitness among experimental fly lines to test the predicted effects of individual candidate genes. I have also worked on a number of related projects, including an analysis of inversion evolution on the X chromosome and autosomes when inversions capture locally adapted alleles. In collaboration with Tim Connallon at Monash, I hope to further bridge gaps between theory and empirical data, and thus better understand the evolutionary process.