Mr Martin Gorry Wagah

PhD Student

Martin has a keen interest in malaria vectors. He is currently focused on the genome structure of Anopheles malaria vectors. Using high-quality genome assemblies generated using long and linked-read sequencing, Martin seeks to illuminate large structural variants, heterochromatic regions, and repeat-rich regions that have been inaccessible using short-read sequencing. This work also sets the stage for investigations into higher-order repeats in centromeric regions, the evolution of repetitive elements and their relevance in single-reference versus pangenome-based structural variant-calling for monitoring the spread of insecticide resistance.

I am a PhD Student at the Sanger Institute. My PhD is a mixture of wet-lab and dry-lab investigations, strongly leaning on dry-lab research. I use high-quality reference genomes to map the genomic architecture of Anopheles mosquitoes. I also aim to develop pan-genome graphs using these assemblies for structural variant calling, and to investigate how exposure to selection pressures can affect mosquito populations.

This work requires high-performance computing with big datasets, writing code in various languages such as R and Python, and interacting with multiple tools deployed within the genomics community. The best part of my PhD is the feeling one gets when sitting at the front seat of discovery, experiencing that rare feeling of being the first person to find something new, something which even though trivial or mundane, is unique because you are the first person to have ever seen it.

The work I do seeks to fill gaps in our understanding of the genomic structure of Malaria vectors, which may help pave the way for better strategies against malaria.

My timeline

• PhD in Genomics (Sanger Institute)

• MPhil in Genomics (Sanger Institute)