Pontus Skoglund

Pontus Skoglund is the group leader of the Francis Crick Institute's Ancient Genomics laboratory. His research has focused on developing new approaches to propel the field of ancient DNA into the genomic era. He obtained his PhD in evolutionary genetics from Uppsala University in 2013 with Mattias Jakobsson, and thereafter did his postdoctoral research with David Reich at Harvard Medical School. His PhD research revealed population migrations as catalyzers for the transition from hunter-gatherer lifestyles to agriculture in Europe, and he expanded this to worldwide regions in his postdoc research.

In 2018, he founded the first high-throughput ancient DNA laboratory in the UK at the Francis Crick Institute. His lab has used ancient DNA to pioneer research revealing the origin and evolution of dogs and their wild ancestors, and the evolution of bacteria and human immunity in prehistory. He is a Wellcome Trust Investigator, ERC starting grantee, EMBO Young Investigator, Vallee Foundation Scholar and Blavatnik Award finalist prize honoree.