Areas of Scientific Interest
Human population genomics; Sports genetics; Kinesiogenomics; Obesity genomics; Genomics in gerontology and biology of healthy aging; Genetic causes of preterm newborns; Translational genomics; functional genomics; Bioinformatic analysis; Annotation; Artificial intelligence.
Main Activities / Research Directions
Human Population Genomics
- Study of genetic differences between populations.
- Genome diversity and evolutionary adaptation studies.
- Studies on the origin and migration of populations.
- Elucidation of natural selection mechanisms and their impact on human populations.
Genetics of physical performance and sports genomics
- Genetic studies of human physical performance.
- Kinesiogenomics and the molecular basis of physical activity.
- Genome and phenome studies of high-performance athletes.
Translational Genomics
- Obesity genetics and genomics – research on genetic factors influencing metabolism and metabolic response to physical exercise. Randomized intervention studies.
- Longevity genomics and biology of healthy aging – genome, epigenome, and phenome studies of gerontological issues.
- In-depth phenotypic and genotypic assessment of preterm and full-term newborns and their mothers.
Bioinformatic Analysis Algorithms
- Research on genome analysis processes and data standardization.
- Improvement of bioinformatic analysis and annotation algorithms using artificial intelligence.
Competencies
- Genome, epigenome, and phenome research.
- Gene network and interactome research.
- Functional molecular biology research.
- Bioinformatic analysis algorithms, annotation.
Research
- Prevention of Obesity: Molecular Analysis of Biomarkers and Their Signaling Pathways and Their Significance for Personalized Treatment.
- Analysis of De Novo Variants and Their Significance for Genomic Adaptive Fitness in a Cohort of Premature Infants in Lithuania.
- Prognostic and Predictive Biomarkers of Physical Performance in Athletes: The First Steps Towards Precision Sports Medicine.
- Study of the Application of Standardization Principles for Genome Annotation Developed by the Global Alliance for Genome Health (GA4GH) in Lithuania.
- Improvement of Genome Annotation Algorithms to Create Annotations Based on Nucleosome Distribution Profiles Around Active Genomic Elements. Research and Comparison of Nucleosome Sequence Profiles Under Various Conditions and in Different Populations.
- Verification of the Existence of Positive Selection for 48 SNP Variants Associated with Sarcopenia.
- Study of the Application of Artificial Intelligence Text Analysis Algorithms in Genome Annotation.
Group Leader
Dr. Alina Urnikytė has been working at the Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, since 2009. Currently, she holds the position of Associate Professor and Senior Researcher. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology at the University of Vic, Spain. In 2018, Dr. Urnikytė completed her PhD in Biomedical Sciences with a focus on human population genomics at Vilnius University, particularly examining the genetic origins of the Lithuanian population.
In 2023, she finished her postdoctoral project titled "The Impact of Natural Selection on Infectious Diseases in the Lithuanian Population." Her primary research interests include fundamental human population genomics and translational genomics, aiming to understand microevolutionary processes in populations, as well as genetic predispositions to specific abilities, complex diseases, molecular mechanisms of disease pathogenesis, and human adaptation to changing environmental conditions.
Dr. Urnikytė completed a research internship in 2017/2018 at the Evolutionary Population Genetics Laboratory, Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, and in 2022, she worked at the Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre.
Methods and Infrastructure Used
Illumina iScan System
- Whole genome scanning
- Methylome studies
Real-time qPCR
- Telomere length measurement
- Single marker genotyping
Computational Computers
- Bioinformatic analysis of genome and epigenome data
Vivarium
Projects (National, International, and with Private Entities)
- Genomic, Epigenomic, and Telomere Length Characteristics in Sarcopenia and Age-Related Frailty. Project No. LMT. Contract No. S-MIP-22-36.
- Functional Studies of Human Genes Associated with Spontaneous Preterm Birth Using the Danio rerio Model System. Project No. MSF-JM-18/2023. Funded by the Vilnius University Research Promotion Fund.
- Prognostic and Predictive Biomarkers in Sports: A Large-Scale Genome-Wide Association Study in Elite Athletes. Project No. MSF-JM-08/2024. Funded by the Vilnius University Research Promotion Fund.
Publications
Alina Urnikytė (Group Leader)
Collaborations and Partnerships
- Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Clinics, Neonatology Department, Lithuania.
- Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Clinics, Children's Hospital, Lithuania.
- Nature Research Centre, Laboratory of Eukaryote Engineering, Lithuania.
- Vilnius University, Faculty of Philology, Department of Baltic Studies, Lithuania.
- Vilnius University, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Translational Health Research, Center for Human Bioarchaeology and Paleogenetics, Lithuania.
- Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre, Riga, Latvia.
- University of Szczecin, Institute of Biology, Department of Genetics and Genomics, Poland.
- March 11th Lyceum, Puńsk, Poland.
- Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, University of Cagliari, Italy.
- Juntendo University, Japan.
- Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport, Gdańsk, Poland.
For collaboration, contact: