About
Hendrik Poinar is an evolutionary geneticist interested in the preservation and degradation of organic residues in the fossil record.
He devises novel ways to extract these molecules and uses any remaining sequence information to address questions about the past. Recently, he has tried to identify the aetiological agent(s) of past pandemics (Black Death, Plague of Justinian), and to illuminate the evolutionary dynamics of these bacteria (and viruses) during both epidemic and non-epidemic cycles, as well as their reservoirs (hosts and environmental), and the underlying changes in both hosts and pathogen(s) that may explain their increased virulence and, in some cases, subsequent attenuation.
Awards
- Canada Research Chair
- Premier’s Research Excellence Award
- Petro-Canada Young Innovators Award
- EMBO Fellow
- SSHRC Meritorious New Scholar
Relevant Publications
Bos, K.I., Herbig, A., Sahl, J.,…Poinar, H. (2016). Yersinia pestis genomes from an 18th century mass burial in France reveals the long-term persistence of plague in Europe during the second pandemic. eLife, 5, e12994. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.12994
Devault, A.M., Golding, G.B., Waglechner, N.,… Poinar, H. (2014). A ‘Classical’ genome for the second pandemic strain of Vibrio cholerae, Philadelphia, 1849.” New England Journal of Medicine, 370(4), 334–40. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1308663
Wagner, D., Klunk, J., Harbeck, M.,… Poinar, H. (2014). Yersinia pestis and the Plague of Justinian 541–543 AD: a genomic analysis. The Lancet Infectious Disease, 14(4), 319–26. DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(13)70323-2
Bos, K., Verena, J., Schuenemann, G.,…Poinar, H., et al. (2011). A draft genome of Yersinia pestis from victims of the Black Death. Nature, 478, 506–10. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10549
D’Costa, V., King, C.E., Kalan, L.,… Poinar, H., et al. (2011). Antibiotic resistance is ancient. Nature, 477(7365), 457–61. DOI: 10.1038/nature10388
Support Us
CIFAR is a registered charitable organization supported by the governments of Canada, Alberta and Quebec, as well as foundations, individuals, corporations and Canadian and international partner organizations.