Maximilian Larena

Maximilian Larena serves as a Researcher in the Department of Organismal Biology (Human Evolution section) at Uppsala University, focusing on genomic investigations of human populations across Southeast Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. His work integrates evolutionary biology with population genetics to unravel migration patterns, adaptation mechanisms, and ancestry composition in diverse ethnic groups.

Dr. Larena's research centers on genetic adaptation in isolated populations, particularly nomadic hunter-gatherer societies like Thailand's Maniq and the Philippines' Ayta. His studies examine Denisovan introgression, pre-Hispanic demographic history, and immunological adaptations, employing whole-genome sequencing and population structure analysis. Key contributions include identifying the world's highest Denisovan ancestry levels in Philippine Ayta populations and reconstructing Micronesian settlement histories.

Analysis of his 2019-2025 publications reveals two primary research streams: (1) Dominant work in human evolutionary genomics (10 articles) published in Nature, Science, and Genome Biology and Evolution, focusing on population structure and adaptive traits; (2) Foundational immunological research (2 articles) on cholera toxin adjuvant mechanisms. His work shows increasing emphasis on Southeast Asian/Oceanian populations, with significant findings on hunter-gatherer genetic isolation and archaic hominin admixture.