About
Phylogenomics toolKIT (PhyKIT) was developed as part of Jacob L. Steenwyk’s graduate thesis work.
The Developers
PhyKIT is developed and maintained by Jacob L. Steenwyk and Thomas J. Buida III.
Jacob L. Steenwyk is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Gilliam fellow in the Antonis Rokas Laboratory at Vanderbilt University. His research foci include understanding the parameters that influence genome stability, the genomics of microbial domestication, and the evolution of pathogenicity. Beyond research, Steenwyk aims to make education more accessible through diverse avenues of community engagement. Find out more information at his personal website.
Thomas J. Buida III is a senior software and data engineer at Initial State. His main interests are in the design and execution of elegant solutions to complex data problems. His expertise lies in backend software development. Flagship side projects include twitch-top-eight, a panel extension to view top viewers/streamers, and Hue Kolorize, a Hue light extension that matches the dominant color extracted from a flexible source to the Hue light color. Find out more information at his personal website.
More Team Members
PhyKIT has been made possible by other key personnel including Antonis Rokas, Abigail L. Labella, Yuanning Li, and Xing-Xing Shen.
Antonis Rokas is the Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair in Biological Sciences and Director of the Evolutionary Studies Initiative at Vanderbilt University. Research in his laboratory focuses on the study of the DNA record to gain insight into the patterns and processes of evolution. Using a combination of computational and experimental approaches, his lab’s current research aims to understand the molecular foundations of the fungal lifestyle, the reconstruction of the tree of life, and the evolution of human pregnancy. Find out more information at his laboratory’s website.
Abigail L. LaBella am a postdoctoral scholar at Vanderbilt University in the lab of Dr. Antonis Rokas. Her research uses evolution to understand the relationship between phenotype, genotype, and environment. This includes the evolution of human birth timing and disorders of pregnancy, and the evolution of silent codon positions in yeasts. During her research career she has worked with fungi, humans, beetles, fishes, limpets, clams, and lizards! For more information visit her personal website.
Xing-Xing Shen is an Assistant Professor of Institute of Insect Sciences at Zhejiang University. His lab is broadly interested in evolutionary biology, phylogenetics, comparative genomics, and bioinformatics. His current research mainly focus on: 1) investigating phylogenetic relationships in animals and fungi using genome-scale data; 2) identifying the factors that lead to phylogenetic incongruence; and 3) exploring insect species and ecological diversity. Find out more information at his laboratory’s website.
Information about other team members coming soon!