Congratulations to PhD candidate and Graduate Affiliate, William Aguado, who won Best Genetics Poster at the 94th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Biological Anthropologists (AABA) in Baltimore, March 2025!
His poster, titled “Evolution of Primate Salivary PRP Genes in Response to Tannin-Rich Diets,” explored how genes coding proline-rich proteins (PRPs) (a specialized class of salivary proteins) have evolved through the primate lineage. Since PRPs are thought to help mitigate the toxic effects of tannins found in many plant foods, his research looked into how changes in PRP gene structure correlate with dietary adaptations in primates.
