Leonardo Arias Alvis
Postdoc
Department of Evolutionary Genetics
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6
04103 Leipzig
phone: +49 (0) 341 3550 972
e-mail:
leonardo_arias@[>>> Please remove the text! <<<]eva.mpg.de
Project: Demographic history and fine-scale population structure in Northwestern Amazonia
I am an evolutionary biologist interested in understanding human population history and the impact of sociocultural practices on patterns of genetic diversity among extant and extinct human populations. My current research uses cutting-edge DNA sequencing technology to analyze the genetic diversity present among indigenous populations from Northwestern Amazonia (NWA). This area is well known for its enormous biological, linguistic and cultural diversity. Recent anthropological and archaeological research indicates that this region was populated since at least 10,000 years ago and that complex societies –chiefdoms and multiethnic confederations- originated there before the arrival of Europeans.
Our previous research (see list of publications) showed that NWA harbors significant diversity and revealed the existence of extensive interactions among ethnolinguistic groups, this interaction has been facilitated by the presence of an abundant network of rivers, which facilitates the movement of people, primarily women. During my current postdoctoral position, I am analyzing genome-wide SNP data from ~300 individuals from NWA aiming to refine our understanding of the human population history of this fascinating area.
Curriculum Vitae
Current position
| 01/04/2019- | Postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig. Advisor: Mark Stoneking |
Education
| 09/2012 – 11/2018 | PhD Evolutionary Genetics Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany Thesis: Human population history of Northwestern Amazonia, Colombia Advisors: Prof. Dr. Mark Stoneking and Dr. Brigitte Pakendorf |
| 08/2007 – 2/2012 | MSc. Biology Faculty of Natural Sciences, Dept. Biology Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia Thesis: Study of the genetic variation in the mitochondrial DNA of Native American populations from Amazonia and pre-Hispanic human remains from the Colombian Andes. Advisor: Dr. Guillermo Barreto |
| 08/2000 – 08/2006 | BSc Biology, mention in genetics Faculty of Natural Sciences, Dept. Biology Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia Thesis: Determination of the allele frequencies of eight autosomal STRs in two Amerindian population samples from the Guaviare Department Advisor: Dr. Guillermo Barreto |
Teaching experience
| 2007 | Lecturer Cell biology and biochemistry I, Universidad del Valle, Buenaventura |
| 2008 | Teaching assistant Laboratory of Cell biology and biochemistry II, Universidad del Valle, Cali. |
| 2009 | Teaching assistant Laboratory of General Biology, Universidad del Valle, Cali. |
| 2015 | Lecturer in the IMPRS-Leipzig School of Human Origins, workshop in “Applied Phylogenetics” lecture on: “Distance based methods and phylogenetic networks”, 31 August to 04 September 2015 MPI-EVA. |
| 2016 | Lecturer in the Masters Course in “Molecular Anthropology” University of Leipzig, lecture on: “The peopling of the Americas”, MPI-EVA. |
| 2016 | Lecturer in the Core Seminar Week on Genetics IMPRS- Leipzig School of Human Origins, lecture on: “Human Population History Projects” June 2016 MPI-EVA. |
| 2017 | Lecturer in the Masters Course in “Molecular Anthropology” University of Leipzig, lecture on: “Human Migrations and Population Contact”, MPI-EVA. |
| 2017 | Lecturer in the Core Seminar Week on Genetics IMPRS- Leipzig School of Human Origins, lecture on: “Human Population History Projects” April 2017 MPI-EVA. |
| 2018 | Lecturer in the Masters Course in “Molecular Anthropology” University of Leipzig, lecture on: “Colonization of the New World”, MPI-EVA. |
| 2018 | Lecturer in the Core Seminar Week on Genetics IMPRS- Leipzig School of Human Origins, lecture on: “Human Population History Projects” May 2018 MPI-EVA. |
Fieldwork experience
| 2013-2014 | Fieldwork with indigenous communities in remote places in the Colombian Amazonia, collection of saliva samples from 36 different ethnolinguistic groups. |
| 2005-2010 | Fieldwork with indigenous communities in remote places (Guaviare and Vaupés, Colombian Amazonia) belonging to the East Tukanoan and Guahiban language families. |
Grants
| 2012 | Colombian Science Foundation (COLCIENCIAS) Graduate scholarship to conduct PhD studies abroad. |
| 2011 | German Academic Exchange Servive (DAAD) (code number: A/11/15253) Award for a Research Stay, Host Institute: MPI for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany. |
| 2007 | Universidad del Valle, Vicerrectoría de investigaciones (código de proyecto CI7747) “Obtención de ADN arqueológico y su validación para el estudio comparativo de la diversidad genética de poblaciones prehispánicas y amerindias actuales del Sur-Occidente colombiano” |
Publications
2023
Arias, L., Emlen, N. Q., Norder, S., Julmi, N., Lemus Serrano, M., Chacon, T., Wiegertjes, J., Howard, A., Azevedo, M. C. B. C., Caine, A., Dunn, S., Stoneking, M., & Van Gijn, R. (2023). Interpreting mismatches between linguistic and genetic patterns among speakers of Tanimuka (Eastern Tukanoan) and Yukuna (Arawakan). Interface Focus, 13(1): 20220056. |
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Emlen, N. Q., Arias, L., & van Gijn, R. (2023). Multidisciplinary approaches to the Amazonian past: Introduction to the theme issue. Interface Focus, 13(1): 2022.0068. |
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Stoneking, M., Arias, L., Liu, D., Oliveira, S., Pugach, I., & Rodriguez, J. (2023). Genomic perspectives on human dispersals during the Holocene. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(4): e22094751. |
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Van Gijn, R., Norder, S., Arias, L., Emlen, N. Q., Azevedo, M. C. B. C., Caine, A., Dunn, S., Howard, A., Julmi, N., Krasnoukhova, O., Stoneking, M., & Wiegertjes, J. (2023). The social lives of isolates (and small language families): The case of the Northwest Amazon. Interface Focus, 13(1). |
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Woravatin, W., Stoneking, M., Srikummool, M., Kampuansai, J., Arias, L., & Kutanan, W. (2023). South Asian maternal and paternal lineages in southern Thailand and the role of sex-biased admixture. PLoS One, 18: e0291547. |
Open Access2021
Kutanan, W., Liu, D., Kampuansai, J., Srikummool, M., Srithawong, S., Shoocongdej, R., Sangkhano, S., Ruangchai, S., Pittayaporn, P., Arias, L., & Stoneking, M. (2021). Reconstructing the human genetic history of mainland Southeast Asia: Insights from genome-wide data from Thailand and Laos. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 38(8), 3459-3477. |
2020
Arias, L., Barreto, G., Pakendorf, B., & Stoneking, M. (2020). Genomic insights into the human population history of Northwestern Amazonia. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 171(S69), 9-10. |
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Barbieri, C., Barquera, R., Arias, L., Sandoval, J. R., Acosta, O., Zurita, C., Aguilar-Campos, A., Tito-Alvarez, A. M., Serrano-Osuna, R., Gray, R. D., Mafessoni, F., Heggarty, P., Shimizu, K. K., Fujita, R., Stoneking, M., Pugach, I., & Fehren-Schmitz, L. (2020). Genetic relationships and linguistic diversity in present-day populations of South America. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 171(S69), 17-18. |
2019
Barbieri, C., Barquera, R., Arias, L., Sandoval, J. R., Acosta, O., Zurita, C., Aguilar-Campos, A., Tito-Álvarez, A. M., Serrano-Osuna, R., Gray, R. D., Mafessoni, F., Heggarty, P., Shimizu, K. K., Fujita, R., Stoneking, M., Pugach, I., & Fehren-Schmitz, L. (2019). The current genomic landscape of Western South America: Andes, Amazonia, and Pacific Coast. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 36(12), 2698-2713. |
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Kutanan, W., Kampuansai, J., Srikummool, M., Brunelli, A., Ghirotto, S., Arias, L., Macholdt, E., Hübner, A., Schröder, R., & Stoneking, M. (2019). Contrasting paternal and maternal genetic histories of Thai and Lao populations. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 36(7): msz083, pp. 1490-1506. |
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Macholdt, E., Arias, L., Duong, N. T., Ton, N. D., Van Phong, N., Schröder, R., Pakendorf, B., Van Hai, N., & Stoneking, M. (2019). The paternal and maternal genetic history of Vietnamese populations. European Journal of Human Genetics, 28(5), 636-645. |
2018
Arias Alvis, L. (2018). Human population history of Northwestern Amazonia, Colombia. PhD Thesis, Univ., Leipzig. |
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Arias, L., Barbieri, C., Barreto, G., Stoneking, M., & Pakendorf, B. (2018). High-resolution mitochondrial DNA analysis sheds light on human diversity, cultural interactions, and population mobility in Northwestern Amazonia. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 165(2), 238-255. |
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Arias, L., Schröder, R., Hübner, A., Barreto, G., Stoneking, M., & Pakendorf, B. (2018). Cultural innovations influence patterns of genetic diversity in Northwestern Amazonia. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 35(11), 2719-2735. |
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Duong, N. T., Macholdt, E., Ton, N. D., Arias, L., Schröder, R., Phong, N. V., Thuy, V. T. B., Ha, N. H., Hue, H. T. T., Xuan, N. T., Oanh, K. T. P., Hien, L. T. T., Hoang, N. H., Pakendorf, B., Stoneking, M., & Hai, N. V. (2018). Complete human mtDNA genome sequences from Vietnam and the phylogeography of Mainland Southeast Asia. Scientific Reports, 8: 11651. |
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Kutanan, W., Kampuansai, J., Brunelli, A., Ghirotto, S., Pittayaporn, P., Ruangchai, S., Schröder, R., Macholdt, E., Srikummool, M., Kangwanpong, D., Hübner, A., Arias, L., & Stoneking, M. (2018). New insights from Thailand into the maternal genetic history of Mainland Southeast Asia. European Journal of Human Genetics, 26, 898-911. |
2012
Braga, Y., Arias, L., and Barreto, G. (2012) Diversity and genetic structure analysis of three Amazonian Amerindian populations from Colombia. Colombia Médica - Vol. 43 Nº 2, 2012.
2011
Braga, Y., Arias, L. and Barreto, G. (2011) Genetic diversity of Native Americans in the multilingual area of Vaupés-Guaviare, Colombian Amazonia (Abstract). Am J Phys Anthropol. 144:52. Pag. 96
2010
Arias, L., Braga, Y. and Barreto, G. (2010) Variación genética presente en el ADNmt de Nativos Americanos de la Amazonía Colombiana. IATREIA. Vol 23, No 4 pag S-135-S-136. ISSN 0121-0793/ ISSN-e 2011-7965
Barreto, G., Rodríguez, C.A., Braga, Y., Quintero, M., Jurado, L., Arias, L., Rodríguez-Flórez, E. (2010) Extracción y amplificación de ADN arqueológico de dos poblaciones prehispánicas del Suroccidente colombiano. Int. J. S. Am. Archaeol. 6: 46-57 (2010) www.ijsa.syllabapress.com