Rate My Professor Omer Gokcumen

Omer Gokcumen is a Professor of Biological Sciences at the University at Buffalo, recognized as an expert in evolutionary anthropology. He earned his PhD in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania in 2008 and completed postdoctoral research at Harvard Medical School. Joining the University at Buffalo initially as an assistant professor around 2017, he progressed to associate professor and was promoted to full professor. Gokcumen directs the Buffalo Evolutionary and Anthropological Genomics Laboratory (BEAGL), which investigates the contributions of genomic structural variations—deletions, duplications, and other large-scale changes—to human evolution, beyond single nucleotide variants. His research integrates genomics, functional genetics, anthropology, and evolutionary biology to explore mutational mechanisms, evolutionary processes preserving archaic variants shared with Neanderthals, and functional effects at genetic, transcriptomic, cellular, and organismal levels in modern and ancient human populations, including Denisovans.

Gokcumen's key publications highlight his impact, including 'Reconstruction of the human amylase locus reveals ancient duplications seeding modern-day variation' (Science, 2024), 'Balancing selection on genomic deletion polymorphisms in humans' (eLife, 2023), 'A mechanism of gene evolution generating mucin function' (Science Advances, 2022), 'Sex-specific phenotypic effects and evolutionary history of an ancient polymorphic deletion of the human growth hormone receptor' (Science Advances, 2021), and 'Functional Specialization of Human Salivary Glands and Origins of Proteins Intrinsic to Human Saliva' (Cell Reports, 2020). His scholarship has garnered over 8,100 citations. Awards include the President Emeritus and Mrs. Meyerson Award for Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching and Mentoring (2025), Distinguished Postdoc Mentor Award (2019), NIH Outstanding Investigator Award (R35), and Human Biology Lasker Award for a publication. Gokcumen's work has received media attention in The New York Times, NPR Radiolab, and BBC.