Serena Tucci

Serena Tucci is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Principal Investigator of the Human Evolutionary Genomics Laboratory at Yale University. Her research focuses on human evolution and population history using ancient and modern human DNA, integrating anthropology, population genetics, and computational biology to study demographic events and genetic adaptation. She holds a Ph.D. in Evolutionary and Environmental Biology from the University of Ferrara, Italy, and has conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Washington and Princeton University.

Her work explores mechanisms of evolutionary change, particularly the genetic legacy of archaic humans like Neanderthals and Denisovans in modern populations of Island Southeast Asia and Oceania. She has been supported by the Lewis and Clark Fund and awarded the Young Investigator Fellowship (2013 & 2015). Her research spans computational methods, fieldwork, and lab-based genomic analysis to uncover evolutionary processes shaping human diversity.

Awards include the Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and the Young Investigator Fellowship. Her lab at Yale University emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches to unraveling genetic and demographic histories, with a focus on Pacific populations and ancient human interactions. She is also committed to advancing scientific communication through digital tools, as seen in her guide to live-streaming conferences.