Dr. Gavin Douglas

Biography

Gavin Douglas is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of New Brunswick, where he is actively seeking MSc and PhD students to join his new research group starting September 2025. His lab primarily employs bioinformatics approaches to explore the factors driving pangenome evolution in prokaryotes. His recent work involves using pseudogenes as a neutral reference to investigate the evolution of rare genes. A key research focus is estimating the relative importance of natural selection versus genetic drift in prokaryotic populations, which informs his laboratory's investigations. Douglas collaborates with researchers to understand the factors that drive strain variation across various environmental samples, including ocean and lake water, as well as honey bee gut microbiome samples. Additionally, he is dedicated to developing bioinformatic tools to identify putatively adaptive accessory genes that can support microbial ecology analyses. His lab is particularly focused on integrating high-quality reference genomes and metagenome-assembled genomes into metagenomic analyses. Currently, he has funding to support postdoctoral researchers and encourages collaborations on Postdoctoral Fellowship applications, while also working with students to apply for grants and scholarships.

Research Interests

Experience