Bruce Rannala

Bruce Rannala is a Professor at the University of California, Davis. His research focuses on statistical genetics, population genetics, and phylogenetics, with applications to disease outbreaks (e.g., HIV, SARS-CoV-2), cancer genetics, and conservation biology. He develops computational tools and Bayesian methods for analyzing genomic data. Notable contributions include the BPP software for species tree inference and the PrioriTree utility for phylodynamic analyses.

Recent projects involve Bayesian methods for identifying hybrid individuals, improving phylodynamic models for disease spread, and analyzing ancient DNA to infer species divergence times. His work often addresses methodological challenges in accommodating cross-species gene flow and model misspecification.

• Former PhD students: Dr. Anna Nagel (now at Johns Hopkins), Dr. Sneha Chakraborty (postdoc at UCLA).
• Collaborations with researchers such as Tomáš Flouri, Brian Moore, and Kirk Lohmueller.

Grants and Funding: His research is supported by grants focusing on computational genomics and evolutionary biology.

Labs/Affiliations: Center for Population Biology (UC Davis), contributing to interdisciplinary genomic studies.