Cesar Augusto Fortes-Lima

Cesar Augusto Fortes-Lima is an Instructor in Genetic Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Department of Genetic Medicine and McKusick-Nathans Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. He simultaneously serves as an Associate Researcher at Uppsala University's Department of Organismal Biology in Sweden, where he contributes to the Human Evolution Program at the Evolutionary Biology Centre.

Dr. Fortes-Lima earned his Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology from Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (2015) following his B.Sc. from Complutense University (2009). His academic journey includes a PostDoc position at the French National Centre for Scientific Research at MNHN-Musée de l'Homme in Paris (2016-2018).

His research spans several interconnected domains of human evolutionary biology with particular emphasis on African populations. Key research areas include:

• Genomic studies of the Fulani people and other populations across the Sahel/Savannah Belt
• Analysis of the Bantu expansion and its demographic consequences across Africa
• Genetic consequences of the transatlantic slave trade and historical migrations
• Population history and admixture dynamics in diverse African regions
• Computational methods for reconstructing demographic history using Approximate Bayesian Computation

Dr. Fortes-Lima's publication record demonstrates consistent scholarly output with multiple high-impact publications in leading journals including Nature, American Journal of Human Genetics, and Molecular Biology and Evolution. His recent work (2023-2025) focuses on population history of the Fulani people, Bantu expansions, and the genetic legacy of historical migrations across Africa, often combining genomic data with linguistic and archaeological evidence.

He maintains active membership in several professional societies:

• African Society of Human Genetics (AfSHG)
• American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG)
• American Association of Biological Anthropology (AABA)
• American Association of Anthropological Genetics (AAAG)
• Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE)

Dr. Fortes-Lima collaborates extensively with an international network of researchers, most notably with Carina Schlebusch at Uppsala University. His laboratory work involves genomic analysis of diverse African populations to understand historical population movements, admixture events, and local adaptations, with significant implications for medical genetics and understanding population-specific disease risks.