B.Sc.,University of California, Berkeley

I am an evolutionary geneticist interested in the adaptation of complex traits, natural variation, and evolutionary novelty. I grew up across the Atlantic in Kuwait and then moved to California, where I studied genetics at UC Berkeley. There, I worked in genetics labs – the Brem and Whiteman labs – where I studied trait variation between species. In the Brem lab, I focused on the genetic basis of an interspecific difference in thermotolerance in different yeast species and found that this difference is underlain by a suite of essential genes. In the Whiteman lab, I investigated bill shape variation in the broad-tailed hummingbird and assisted on a project to understand the process of speciation in a spikedace minnow population. In general, I am interested in adaptation, hybridization, and speciation, and the evolutionary mechanisms and dynamics that drive these phenomena in general. I am interested in evolutionary and systems biology, especially population genetics and molecular evolution over long time scales.

I love to write, read, and teach topics inside or outside of science! And I love cooking, too…and sometimes chess. Social causes are very important to me and I believe paramount to consider as scientists. So feel free to talk to me about literally anything or exchange recipes

Abrams MB, Chuong JN, AlZaben F, Dubin CA, Skerker JM, Bren RB (2022) Barcoded reciprocal hemizygosity analysis via sequencing illuminates the complex genetic basis of yeast thermotolerance. G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics 12(2):jkab412.

AlZaben F, Chuong JN, Abrams MB, Brem RB (2021) Joint effects of genes underlying a temperature specialization tradeoff in yeast. PLOS Genetics 17(9): e1009793.

Abrams MB, Dubin CA, AlZaben F, Bravo J, Joubert PM, Weiss CV, Brem RB (2021) Population and comparative genetics of thermotolerance divergence between yeast species. G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics 11(7):jkab139

AlZaben, F., Vasilenko D., Gunbold, G., McClanahan S., Boyce P., Boyce G. CCD Measurements of WDS 13510+6819 STTA127. Journal of Double Star Observations 13(3): 391-394

AlZaben, F., Priest A., Priest S., Qiu R., Boyce G., Boyce P. Measurements of Multi-star Systems LEO 5 and MKT 13. Journal of Double Star Observations 12(4): 400-405

AlZaben, F., Li D., Li Y., Dennis A., Fene M., Boyce G., Boyce P. CCD Astrometry with Robotic Telescopes. Journal of Double Star Observations 12(1): 45-50