DEPARTMENT OF INTEGRATIVE BIOLOGY
SHARMA LAB
SHARMA LAB
Welcome to the Sharma Lab! Our research broadly addresses macroevolution of invertebrates through the lenses of phylogenetics, genomics, and comparative development, with emphasis on chelicerate arthropods.
This body of work integrates three avenues of inquiry:
(1) How is biodiversity distributed through time and space?
(2) What are the genetic mechanisms that underlie body plan evolution?
(3) How does the integration of phylogenetic data classes resolve challenging parts of the tree of life?
This body of work integrates three avenues of inquiry:
(1) How is biodiversity distributed through time and space?
(2) What are the genetic mechanisms that underlie body plan evolution?
(3) How does the integration of phylogenetic data classes resolve challenging parts of the tree of life?
Lab News & Events 2025 (updated 2 July):
2 July 2025: The lab is delighted to contribute to the sequencing of the first chromosome-level sea spider genome! And the story got picked up by The New York TImes! Check it out here!
18 June 2025: Sophie, Ben, and Prashant attended the American Arachnology Society meeting in Golden, CO. Sophie gave her first professional talk and presented a poster. Ben won the first place student oral presentation prize. Prashant organized a symposium on genomics, whose participants included lab alumni Emily Setton, Jesús Ballesteros, and Carlos Santibáñez López. What a rush!
9 June 2025: Prashant and Ben have a total blast teaching part of the arthropod module at Woods Hole MBL's embryology course (aka the home of Phalangium opilio)!
22 May 2025: Prashant is deeply honored and humbled to receive the 2025 Alliant Energy James R. Underkofler Excellence in Teaching Award!
22 April 2025: Congratulations to Kaitlyn Abshire on the successful defense of her Masters thesis! Kaitlyn presented her work on the developmental biology and genomics of land snails, with both works slated for publication this year.
3 April 2025: Prashant gives a departmental seminar at Harvard University.
22 January 2025: Welcome to Erika Garcia, the newest addition to our team! Erika joins the lab for a three year postdoctoral fellowship funded by the National Science Foundation. Check out her profile here!
13 January 2025: Many congratulations to Dr. Joseph Sardina Jr. on a formidable and exemplary thesis dissertation defense! After the completion of his thesis, JoJo is on his way to a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Oxford.
2 July 2025: The lab is delighted to contribute to the sequencing of the first chromosome-level sea spider genome! And the story got picked up by The New York TImes! Check it out here!
18 June 2025: Sophie, Ben, and Prashant attended the American Arachnology Society meeting in Golden, CO. Sophie gave her first professional talk and presented a poster. Ben won the first place student oral presentation prize. Prashant organized a symposium on genomics, whose participants included lab alumni Emily Setton, Jesús Ballesteros, and Carlos Santibáñez López. What a rush!
9 June 2025: Prashant and Ben have a total blast teaching part of the arthropod module at Woods Hole MBL's embryology course (aka the home of Phalangium opilio)!
22 May 2025: Prashant is deeply honored and humbled to receive the 2025 Alliant Energy James R. Underkofler Excellence in Teaching Award!
22 April 2025: Congratulations to Kaitlyn Abshire on the successful defense of her Masters thesis! Kaitlyn presented her work on the developmental biology and genomics of land snails, with both works slated for publication this year.
3 April 2025: Prashant gives a departmental seminar at Harvard University.
22 January 2025: Welcome to Erika Garcia, the newest addition to our team! Erika joins the lab for a three year postdoctoral fellowship funded by the National Science Foundation. Check out her profile here!
13 January 2025: Many congratulations to Dr. Joseph Sardina Jr. on a formidable and exemplary thesis dissertation defense! After the completion of his thesis, JoJo is on his way to a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Oxford.