#  John Wakeley 

Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology

 

 

 



   ![Professor John Wakeley with short hair and light shirt, standing in front of a tree](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_4_5__480x600/public/2025-08/Wakeley-John_Radcliffe%20copy.jpg?itok=B1SBnFyh) 

 



 

 location\_on Biological Laboratories 16 Divinity Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138 

 smartphone [617-495-1564](tel:617-495-1564) 

 email <wakeley@fas.harvard.edu> 

 laptop\_windows [Wakeley Lab](http://wakeleylab.oeb.harvard.edu/) 

 

 



 

Faculty Support: [Erin Ciccone](/people/erin-ciccone)

Population samples of DNA sequences contain information about both contemporary and ancient processes and events. I use mathematical models to describe how these current and historical factors conspire to produce the patterns of genetic variation which are readily observable among individuals within species. I employ both analytical and computational techniques to make inferences about these factors from patterns of genetic variation. The field I work in is called Theoretical Population Genetics. Recently I have been studying how the genealogy of individuals in a population affects gene genealogies and patterns of genetic variation in samples from the population.

**Recent Publications**

Newman M, **Wakeley J**, Fan W-T. 2025. Conditional gene genealogies given the population pedigree for a diploid Moran model with selfing. Theoretical Population Biology 165:29-44.

Fan W-T, **Wakeley J.** 2024. Latent mutations in the ancestries of alleles under selection. Theoretical Population Biology 158:1-20.

Diamantidis D, Fan W-T, Birkner M, **Wakeley J.** 2024. Bursts of coalescence within population pedigrees whenever big families occur. Genetics 227:iyae030.

Rivas-González I, Schierup MH, **Wakeley J**, Hobolth A. 2024. TRAILS: Tree reconstruction of ancestry using incomplete lineage sorting. PLOS Genetics 20(1):1-21.

**Wakeley J**, Fan W-T, Koch E, Sunyaev S. 2023. Recurrent mutation in the ancestry of a rare variant. Genetics 224:iyad049.



 

 

 





 

 

- ## Building
    
     [Bio Labs](/building/bio-labs)
- ## Lab Group
    
     [Wakeley Lab Members](/lab-group/wakeley-group)
- ## People
    
     [Faculty](/people/faculty) [Department Faculty](/people/department-faculty)
- ## Research Areas
    
     [Evolution](/research-areas/evolution) [Mathematical &amp; Computational Biology](/research-areas/mathematical-computational-biology) [Population &amp; Evolutionary Genetics](/research-areas/population-and-evolutionary-genetics)
- ## Search by Last Name
    
     [U-Z](/search-last-name/u-z)