SoS 271: Learning about the evolution of the human microbiome with Tanvi Honap

Tanvi is an evolutionary biologist who studies how pathogens and microbial communities evolve in response to human ecological, environmental, and cultural changes. Employing a One Health framework, her work integrates genomic/metagenomic datasets derived from animals, contemporary human populations living diverse lifestyles, and ancient individuals recovered using innovative paleogenomics techniques. She have a Bachelor's degree in Microbiology, with a minor in Industrial Microbiology, and a Master's degree in Virology from the University of Pune, India. Her research career began in 2011 with her Masters' research project, where she conducted a case-control association study of genetic polymorphisms in human immune response genes and the outcomes of Dengue virus infection in Indian populations. From 2012 to 2017, she worked on her Ph.D. in Evolutionary Biology under the supervision of Dr. Anne Stone and Dr. Michael Rosenberg at Arizona State University, Tempe, U.S. Her dissertation research involved using cutting-edge degraded DNA and next-generation sequencing methods to elucidate the evolutionary histories of the pathogens causing two major human diseases - leprosy and tuberculosis. From 2017 to 2024, she worked as a Research Assistant Professor with Dr. Cecil M. Lewis Jr., in the Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research (LMAMR) at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, U.S. In this role, she co-led numerous projects investigating the evolution of the human microbiome in response to migration, lifeways, and behavior, which included a National Science Foundation-funded project on the oral microbiome. In 2025, she started a new position as a Bioinformatics Scientist working with Dr. Charlotte Avanzi at Colorado State University, where she is studying the transmission dynamics of leprosy in human and animal hosts. ------------------------------ Find the paper discussed in this episode: Honap, T. P., Monroe, C. R., Johnson, S. J., Jacobson, D. K., Abin, C. A., Austin, R. M., Sandberg, P., Levine, M., Sankaranarayanan, K., & Lewis, C. M. Jr. (2023). Oral metagenomes from Native American Ancestors reveal distinct microbial lineages in the pre-contact era. American Journal of Biological Anthropology, 182(4), 542–556. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24735 ------------------------------ Contact Dr. Honap: [email protected] https://www.tanvihonap.com/ ------------------------------ Contact the Sausage of Science Podcast and Human Biology Association: Facebook: facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation/, Website: humbio.org, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc Chris Lynn, Co-Host Website: cdlynn.people.ua.edu/, E-mail: [email protected], Twitter:@Chris_Ly Cara Ocobock, Co-Host, Website: sites.nd.edu/cara-ocobock/, Email:[email protected], Twitter:@CaraOcobock Anahi Ruderman, SoS Co-Producer, HBA Junior Fellow / E-mail: [email protected]