Wright, Alison, Dr

Dr Alison Wright

School of Biosciences

Senior Lecturer

a.e.wright@sheffield.ac.uk

Alfred Denny Building

Full contact details

Dr Alison Wright
School of Biosciences
Alfred Denny Building
Western Bank
91ֱ��
S10 2TN

Profile

Senior Lecturer, University of 91ֱ��, UK (2024-present)
Lecturer, University of 91ֱ��, UK (2022-2023)
NERC Independent Research Fellow, University of 91ֱ��, UK (2017‒2022)
Postdoctoral Research Associate, University College London, UK (2014‒2017)
DPhil Zoology, University of Oxford – thesis title ‘Mating system, sex-specific selection and the evolution of the avian sex chromosomes’ (2010‒2014)
BA Biological Sciences, University of Oxford (2007‒2010)

Research interests

Our research is focused on understanding how and why the diversity of life is produced and maintained. In particular, we study the genes responsible for differences between males and females and how they have evolved across organisms. We specialise in the use of state-of-the-art genomic sequencing approaches which we employ across a range of organisms.

Our overarching aim is to understand the genomic and evolutionary processes underlying sex differences and our key research themes include:

the origins and evolution of sex chromosomes
genomics of sexual dimorphism
genome evolution and sexual selection
evolution and genomics of honest sexual signals

Publications

Show: Featured publications All publications

Featured publications

Journal articles

Price PD, Parkus SM & Wright AE (2023) . Current Opinion in Genetics and Development, 80.
Price PD, Palmer Droguett DH, Taylor JA, Kim DW, Place ES, Rogers TF, Mank JE, Cooney CR & Wright AE (2022) . Nature Ecology and Evolution, 6, 1035-1045.
Cooney CR, Mank JE & Wright AE (2021) . Evolution, 75(11), 2857-2866.
Rogers TF, Palmer DH & Wright AE (2020) . Molecular Biology and Evolution.
Cooney CR, Sheard C, Clark AD, Healy SD, Liker A, Street S, Troisi CA, Szekely T, Thomas GH, Hemmings N & Wright A (2020) . Nature Communications, 11.
Palmer DH, Rogers TF, Dean R & Wright AE (2019) . Molecular Ecology.
Wright AE, Rogers TF, Fumagalli M, Cooney CR & Mank JE (2019) . Molecular Ecology.
Wright AE, Fumagalli M, Cooney CR, Bloch NI, Vieira FG, Buechel SD, Kolm N & Mank JE (2018) . Evolution Letters, 2(2), 52-61.
Wright AE, Darolti I, Bloch NI, Oostra V, Sandkam B, Buechel SD, Kolm N, Breden F, Vicoso B & Mank JE (2017) . Nature Communications, 8.
Wright AE, Dean R, Zimmer F & Mank JE (2016) . Nature Communications, 7.
Harrison PW, Wright AE, Zimmer F, Dean R, Montgomery SH, Pointer MA & Mank JE (2015) . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(14), 4393-4398.
Wright AE, Harrison PW, Zimmer F, Montgomery SH, Pointer MA & Mank JE (2015) . Molecular Ecology, 24(6), 1218-1235.
Wright AE, Moghadam HK & Mank JE (2012) . Genetics, 192(4), 1433-1445.

All publications

Journal articles

Price PD, Parkus SM & Wright AE (2023) . Current Opinion in Genetics and Development, 80.
Smith J, Alfieri JM, Anthony N, Arensburger P, Athrey GN, Balacco J, Balic A, Bardou P, Barela P, Bigot Y , Blackmon H et al (2023) . Cytogenetic and Genome Research.
Price PD, Palmer Droguett DH, Taylor JA, Kim DW, Place ES, Rogers TF, Mank JE, Cooney CR & Wright AE (2022) . Nat Ecol Evol.
Price PD, Palmer Droguett DH, Taylor JA, Kim DW, Place ES, Rogers TF, Mank JE, Cooney CR & Wright AE (2022) . Nature Ecology and Evolution, 6, 1035-1045.
Lin Y, Darolti I, Furman BLS, Almeida P, Sandkam BA, Breden F, Wright AE & Mank JE (2022) . Molecular Ecology.
Cooney CR, Mank JE & Wright AE (2021) . Evolution, 75(11), 2857-2866.
Rogers TF, Pizzari T & Wright AE (2021) . Journal of Heredity.
Shearn R, Wright AE, Mousset S, Régis C, Penel S, Lemaitre J-F, Douay G, Crouau-Roy B, Lecompte E & Marais GAB (2020) . eLife, 9.
Rogers TF, Palmer DH & Wright AE (2020) . Molecular Biology and Evolution.
Darolti I, Wright AE & Mank JE (2020) . Genome Biology and Evolution.
Cooney CR, Sheard C, Clark AD, Healy SD, Liker A, Street S, Troisi CA, Szekely T, Thomas GH, Hemmings N & Wright A (2020) . Nature Communications, 11.
Furman BLS, Metzger DCH, Darolti I, Wright AE, Sandkam BA, Almeida P, Shu JJ & Mank JE (2020) . Genome Biology and Evolution.
Mank JE, Shu JJ & Wright AE (2019) . Molecular Ecology.
Palmer DH, Rogers TF, Dean R & Wright AE (2019) . Molecular Ecology.
Darolti I, Wright AE, Sandkam BA, Morris J, Bloch NI, Farré M, Fuller RC, Bourne GR, Larkin DM, Breden F & Mank JE (2019) . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Wright AE, Darolti I, Bloch NI, Oostra V, Sandkam BA, Buechel SD, Kolm N, Breden F, Vicoso B & Mank JE (2019) . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(26), 12607-12608.
Wright AE, Rogers TF, Fumagalli M, Cooney CR & Mank JE (2019) . Molecular Ecology.
Fox EA, Wright AE, Fumagalli M & Vieira FG (2019) . Bioinformatics.
Morris J, Darolti I, Bloch NI, Wright AE & Mank JE (2018) . Genes (Basel), 9(5).
Wright AE, Fumagalli M, Cooney CR, Bloch NI, Vieira FG, Buechel SD, Kolm N & Mank JE (2018) . Evolution Letters, 2(2), 52-61.
Darolti I, Wright AE, Pucholt P, Berlin S & Mank JE (2018) . Molecular Ecology.
Pucholt P, Wright AE, Liu Conze L, Mank JE & Berlin S (2017) . Molecular Biology and Evolution, 34(8), 1991-2001.
Wright AE, Darolti I, Bloch NI, Oostra V, Sandkam B, Buechel SD, Kolm N, Breden F, Vicoso B & Mank JE (2017) . Nature Communications, 8.
Dean R, Wright AE, Marsh-Rollo SE, Nugent BM, Alonzo SH & Mank JE (2017) . Molecular Ecology, 26(2), 505-518.
Wright AE, Dean R, Zimmer F & Mank JE (2016) . Nature Communications, 7.
Mullon C, Wright AE, Reuter M, Pomiankowski A & Mank JE (2015) . Nature Communications, 6(1).
Wright AE, Zimmer F, Harrison PW & Mank JE (2015) . Genetics, 201(2), 587-598.
Dean R, Harrison PW, Wright AE, Zimmer F & Mank JE (2015) . Molecular Biology and Evolution, 32(10), 2646-2656.
Harrison PW, Wright AE, Zimmer F, Dean R, Montgomery SH, Pointer MA & Mank JE (2015) . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(14), 4393-4398.
Wright AE, Harrison PW, Zimmer F, Montgomery SH, Pointer MA & Mank JE (2015) . Molecular Ecology, 24(6), 1218-1235.
Wright AE, Harrison PW, Montgomery SH, Pointer MA & Mank JE (2014) . Evolution, 68(11), 3281-3295.
Wright AE & Mank JE (2013) . Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 26(9), 1841-1853.
Wright AE, Moghadam HK & Mank JE (2012) . Genetics, 192(4), 1433-1445.
Moghadam HK, Pointer MA, Wright AE, Berlin S & Mank JE (2012) . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(21), 8207-8211.
Wright AE & Mank JE (2012) . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(14), 5144-5145.
Harrison PW, Wright AE & Mank JE (2012) . Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology, 23(2), 222-229.
Bonsall MB & Wright AE (2012) . Ecology and Evolution, 2(3), 515-524.
Palmer Droguett DH, Fletcher M, Alston BT, Kocher S, Cabral-de-Mello DC & Wright AE () . Genome Biology and Evolution, evae264.
Wright A, Almeida P, Mank J & Darolti I () A comparison of methodological approaches to the study of young sex chromosomes: A case study in Poecilia. Journal of Evolutionary Biology.
Pointer MA, Harrison PW, Wright AE & Mank JE () . PLoS Genetics, 9(8), e1003697-e1003697.

Preprints

Cooney CR, Sheard C, Clark AD, Healy SD, Liker A, Street SE, Troisi CA, Thomas GH, Székely T, Hemmings N & Wright AE () , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

Research group

Postdocs

Daniela Palmer (2019-2021) - NSF Postdoctoral Fellow: Evolution and diversity of sex chromosomes

PhD students

Ben Alston (2023-2027) - NERC ACCE DTP: The evolution and genomics of honest sexual signals
Peter Price (2020-2024) - NERC ACCE DTP: The evolution and genetics of sexual dimorphism
Thea Rogers (2017-2021) - NERC ACCE DTP: Evolutionary dynamics of the avian sex chromosomes
Iulia Darolti (2015-2019) - BBSRC DTP: The evolution of sex chromosomes, and their role in sexually selected traits

Teaching activities

BIS418 - Advanced Biological Analysis
BIS311 - Topics in Evolutionary Genetics
BIS315 - Human Evolutionary Genetics
BIS305 - Human Genomics Lab Course
BIS223 - Evolutionary Biology
BIS302 - L3 dissertations BIS312 - L3 projects

Professional activities and memberships

Prizes and Awards

2023 Philip Leverhulme Prize, Leverhulme Trust
2022 European Research Council Starting Grant
2021 Balfour Lecture, Genetics Society
2019 'Rising Star in Evolution', University of Toronto
2017 Jasper Loftus-Hills Young Investigator Award, American Society of Naturalists 2016 Certificate of Commendation, ZSL Scientific Awards Committee
2015 Presidents’ Award for Outstanding Dissertation Paper in Evolution, Society for the Study of Evolution
2012 Walter M. Fitch Prize Finalist, Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution

External activities

Associate Editor: Molecular Ecology (2024-present)
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
Member of Peer Review College, Natural Environment Research Council (2020 - present)
Associate Editor: Proceedings of the Royal Society B (2019 - present)

Internal activities

Lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion for Ecology and Evolutionary
Biology Biological Sciences Athena Swan Action Group
Organiser of Annual Margaret Savigear Lectures

91ֱ��

School of Biosciences

School of Biosciences

Dr Alison Wright

Featured publications

Journal articles

All publications

Journal articles

Preprints

Postdocs

PhD students

Prizes and Awards

External activities

Internal activities

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