Katja Kasimatis (2020-present)
Postdoc with Cutter and Rowe labs
Google scholar page
Contact Email: k.kasimatis@utoronto.ca
Research Interests
My research explores the interplay of sex-specific selection and sexual conflict throughout the life cycle to understand how sexual dimorphism arises across the genotype-phenotype map and how sex differences relate to fitness. Understanding this relationship is critical for establishing foundational knowledge about how evolution drives the transition from sexually antagonistic traits with a shared genetic basis between the sexes to resolved, fixed sexual dimorphisms that contribute to astonishing variety of phenotypes seen in nature.
I work at the intersection of evolution, genomics, and molecular biology, using my background in evolutionary genetics to build new models and experimental tools and then apply these to experimental evolution, leveraging the power of the Caenorhabditis nematode model system. My postdoctoral research is addressing questions of how the autosomal genome responds to sex-specific selection, what is the genetic architecture of sexually dimorphic traits, and the extent to which sexual conflict truly drives genome evolution