Jason Parashuram Mohabir

👋 About Me

I was born and raised in Woodhaven, Queens, New York City, and have deep family roots in Guyana 🇬🇾.

I am a second-year PhD student in the Computational Biology and Bioinformatics program at Duke University, where I am affiliated with Paul Magwene. My research focuses on evolutionary and population genomics, with an emphasis on fungal pathogens.

I studied Computer Science as an undergraduate at Columbia Engineering, where I was introduced to bioinformatics and worked on transposon-encoded CRISPR–Cas systems.

Following my undergraduate degree, I worked at the Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard in the Genomic Center for Infectious Disease. There, I conducted research in medical mycology and vector-borne disease, and collaborated with the Guyana Ministry of Health to help develop a national pathogen surveillance program through the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

At Duke, my research training has included multiple rotations:

• Paul Magwene — mobile genetic elements in pathogenic fungi
• Amy Gladfelter — intrinsic disorder in fungal proteins and biophysical evolution
• Anne Yoder — modeling gene flow and demographic history in mouse lemurs

🔬 Research Directions

My doctoral research integrates three complementary directions:

1. Life cycle–aware coalescent theory
   Developing coalescent models for organisms with extended haploid phases, with applications to fungal systems.

2. The Cryptococcus mobilome
   Cataloging transposable elements across species, lineages, environments, and clinical contexts to understand genome evolution under different reproductive modes.

3. Dating reproductive transitions
   Inferring the timing of unisexual mating and other lifestyle transitions, and testing for associated demographic bottlenecks and shifts in selection.

Together, these projects aim to understand how life cycle structure, recombination regime, and genome architecture shape patterns of genetic diversity, adaptation, and pathogenicity.