J. P. BOLLBACK
Short bio:
I was born in north-western Pennsylvania in 1971. In the autumn of 1990, after free-lancing as a photographer, I enrolled in the B.Sc Environmental Sciences program at the State University of New York (College at Purchase) with a focus in Environmental Organic Chemistry. At the start of my third year I took a course in vertebrate evolution. During the course I realized that I wanted to study evolutionary biology. In the autumn of 1993 I transferred to the University of Maryland to pursue my studies in evolutionary biology. I earned my B.Sc degree in 1995.
After completing my undergraduate studies I continued with post-graduate studies at Maryland in the Department of Zoology and at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History Laboratory of Molecular Systematics. Between 1995-1998 I was a Pre-doctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian.
In the fall of 1998, I began my Ph.D. work on experimental evolution and statistical phylogenetics with John Huelsenbeck at the University of Rochester, New York. I earned my Master of Science degree in 2000 in Evolutionary Genetics and then my
Ph.D. in October of 2004. After completing my Ph.D. I moved to the University of Copenhagen, Denmark to work with Rasmus Nielsen on a number of problems in statistical genetics. I worked in Denmark from the autumn of 2004 until the spring of 2008. I then moved from Copenhagen to the University of Edinburgh, Scotland to work with Andrew Leigh-Brown and Andrew Rambaut on the evolutionary dynamics of influenza.
From late 2010 to 2016 I accepted a position as an tenure-track Assistant Professor at a new research institute in Austria (IST Austria). I was at the time a young researcher and couldn't pass up up the opportunity of a life-time to be a part of building a new research institute, rather than going for a more traditional track. Soon after I was asked by the Institute President to act as the Deputy (or Vice) Programme Chair of the Graduate School. I served in this status, between 2010 and late 2014 when I stepped down. During this time I was tasked by the President with creating a new and "interdisciplinary curriculum" producing for the time a great programme that taught interdisciplinary research but built a deep knowledge of the individual's research field.
I moved to the University of Liverpool (Institute of Integrative Biology) in 2016 as a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor). My move was motivated by the vibrant research environment in biology.
Research interests:
My research focuses on understanding evolutionary constraints. To better understand constraints my group focuses on four focal areas: horizontal gene transfer (HGT), gene regulation, costs and benefits of immunity, and the properties of mutations. See my Research pages for more info...
Academics:
Senior Lecturer
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2016 — Current
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Functional and Comparative Genomics, Institute of Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, UK
Assistant Professor
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2010 — 2016
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Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria), Austria
Post-doctoral Researcher
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2008 — 2010
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Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, UK
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Advisors: Andrew Leigh-Brown & Andrew Rambaut
Post-doctoral Researcher
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2004 — 2008
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Department of Biology, Evolutionary Biology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
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Advisor: Rasmus Nielsen
Ph.D. Evolutionary Genetics
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October 2004
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University of Rochester, USA
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Advisor: John P. Huelsenebeck
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Thesis title: Experimental bacteriophage evolution and theoretical systematics
M.Sc. Evolutionary Genetics
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December 2000
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University of Rochester, USA
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Advisor: John P. Huelsenbeck
B.Sc. Biology
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August 1995
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University of Maryland, USA
Curriculum vitae:
My CV can be downloaded as a PDF here:
Contact details:
Department of Evolution, Ecology and Behaviour
Institute of Infection, Veterinary, and Ecological Sciences
University of Liverpool
Biosciences Building, Room 305
Crown Street
Liverpool, L69 7ZB, UK
T: +44 151 795 4526