jpbarton@pitt.edu
Office: 830 Murdoch
Lab Website

Associate Professor
Ph.D., Physics, Rutgers University

Research Summary

The evolution of pathogens like HIV, SARS-CoV-2, and influenza presents a major threat to public health. My group works to combat this threat by studying how pathogens evolve and how they interact with the immune system. We’re particularly interested in questions related to the predictability of evolution and coevolution of hosts and pathogens. For example, which strains of a pathogen will become dominant in the near future? Can we guide evolution to prevent pathogens from escaping immune control or developing resistance to drugs? Our work combines mathematical modeling, simulation, and data analysis to pursue these questions.

Recent Publications

Lee B, Sohail MS, Finney E, Ahmed SF, Quadeer AA, McKay MR, Barton JP (2022) Inferring effects of mutations on SARS-CoV-2 transmission from genomic surveillance data medRxiv.

Sohail MS, Louie RHY, McKay MR, Barton JP (2021) MPL resolves genetic linkage in fitness inference from complex evolutionary histories Nature Biotechnology.39 (4):: 472-479