Kelley Harris

Kelley Harris is an Associate Professor in the Department of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington, Seattle. Her research focuses on computational biology and evolutionary genetics, particularly coalescent theory and mutation rate/spectrum evolution across humans and other species.

• Accepts graduate students through UW's Genome Sciences Ph.D. program and Molecular & Cellular Biology umbrella program
• Seeks postdoctoral fellows with bioinformatics/population genetics expertise

Research interests center on analyzing large genetic variation datasets to uncover historical mutation patterns, including population-specific differences in mutation spectra (e.g., European enrichment of TCC→TTC mutations), and investigating causal mechanisms involving mutator alleles, life history traits, and environmental factors.

Current projects examine mutation spectrum drift during population divergence, utilizing advanced bioinformatics approaches to disentangle mutation rate evolution from demographic history impacts. She employs both mutation accumulation lines and parent-offspring trio sequencing to validate hypotheses.

• Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award at the Scientific Interface
• Searle Scholarship
• Pew Biomedical Scholarship
• Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship

Her work connects genomic sequence context analysis (including trinucleotide and 7-mer contexts) with population differentiation patterns, revealing novel insights into mutation rate regulation and evolutionary forces shaping genetic variation.