Dr. Phil Arevalo uses a combination of mathematical modeling and computational tools to reveal the forces that drive the diversification and evolution of microbial genomes. His current research covers two main areas: understanding the interplay between host immune systems and viral evolution, and clarifying the tangled histories of genes in bacterial genomes.

The first area broadly seeks answers to the question: "Why are some people more susceptible to flu than others?" While a vast array of factors is involved, one's own particular history of exposures to different pathogens may play an important role in explaining differences in susceptibility. By combining epidemiological and genomic data, Dr. Arevalo hopes to better understand what causes the different "perspectives" each of our immune systems has.

The second area stems from the observation that bacterial genomes are amazingly dynamic, with genes being lost, gained, and transferred again and again. As a whole, microbial species have access to an extensive toolbox of genes, but no one single strain possesses every single tool. Why are some genes present in all members of a species? Why are other genes only present in a small subset of strains? Using the vast array of bacterial genomes that have been sequenced, we can begin to answer these questions and test the limitations of current genomic theory.