Dr. Hernán Burbano

Professor

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Biography

Hernán studied veterinary medicine and biology from 1996 to 2006 at the National University of Colombia in Bogotá. He moved to the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, where he worked on ancient genomics focusing on humans and archaic hominins under the supervision of Svante Pääbo and Michael Lachmann. Hernán obtained his PhD in evolutionary genetics from the University of Leipzig in 2012. Following this, he became a postdoctoral researcher from 2012 to 2014 at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen, Germany, supervised by Detlef Weigel, where he integrated plant evolutionary genomics with ancient DNA studies. From 2014 to 2019, he led the Research Group in Ancient Genomics and Evolution at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology before joining the UCL Centre for Life’s Origins and Evolution as an Associate Professor in 2019. Hernán was promoted to Full Professor of Ancient Genomics and Evolution in 2024. He has received the Royal Society Wolfson Fellowship in 2019, which is funded to recruit outstanding research leaders in the UK and abroad, and was awarded the Philip Leverhulme Prize in 2020 for his significant contributions to Biological Sciences.

Research Interests

Experience

Associate Professor

2019-08-01 — 2024-09-30

University College London • United Kingdom

Associate Professor in Genetics, Evolution & Environment, leading research in ancient genomics.

Group Leader

2014-04-01 — 2019-07-31

Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology • Germany

Led a research group focused on ancient genomics and evolutionary biology.

Postdoctoral Researcher

2012-03-01 — 2014-03-31

Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology • Germany

Conducted research in evolutionary biology under supervision.

PhD Student

2006-08-01 — 2012-02-28

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology • Germany

Studied ancient genomics and evolutionary genetics.

Awards

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Royal Society Wolfson Fellowship

2019-01-01
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Philip Leverhulme Prize

2020-01-01