Dr Alison Wright

School of Biosciences

Senior Lecturer

Dr Alison Wright
Profile picture of Dr Alison Wright
a.e.wright@sheffield.ac.uk
Alfred Denny Building

Full contact details

Dr Alison Wright
School of Biosciences
Alfred Denny Building
Western Bank
Sheffield
S10 2TN
Profile
  • Senior Lecturer, University of Sheffield, UK (2024-present)
  • Lecturer, University of Sheffield, UK (2022-2023)
  • NERC Independent Research Fellow, University of Sheffield, UK (2017‒2022)
  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, University College London, UK (2014‒2017)
  • DPhil Zoology, University of Oxford – thesis title ‘Mating system, sex-specific selection and the evolution of the avian sex chromosomes’ (2010‒2014)
  • BA Biological Sciences, University of Oxford (2007‒2010)
Research interests

Our research is focused on understanding how and why the diversity of life is produced and maintained. In particular, we study the genes responsible for differences between males and females and how they have evolved across organisms. We specialise in the use of state-of-the-art genomic sequencing approaches which we employ across a range of organisms.

Our overarching aim is to understand the genomic and evolutionary processes underlying sex differences and our key research themes include:

  • the origins and evolution of sex chromosomes
  • genomics of sexual dimorphism
  • genome evolution and sexual selection
  • evolution and genomics of honest sexual signals
Publications

Show: Featured publications All publications

Journal articles

  • Price PD, Parkus SM & Wright AE (2023) . Current Opinion in Genetics and Development, 80.
  • Price PD, Palmer Droguett DH, Taylor JA, Kim DW, Place ES, Rogers TF, Mank JE, Cooney CR & Wright AE (2022) . Nature Ecology and Evolution, 6, 1035-1045.
  • Cooney CR, Mank JE & Wright AE (2021) . Evolution, 75(11), 2857-2866.
  • Rogers TF, Palmer DH & Wright AE (2021) . Molecular Biology and Evolution, 38(2), 519-530.
  • Cooney CR, Sheard C, Clark AD, Healy SD, Liker A, Street SE, Troisi CA, Thomas GH, Szekely T, Hemmings N & Wright AE (2020) . Nature Communications, 11.
  • Palmer DH, Rogers TF, Dean R & Wright AE (2019) . Molecular Ecology, 28(21), 4709-4724.
  • Wright AE, Rogers TF, Fumagalli M, Cooney CR & Mank JE (2019) . Molecular Ecology, 28(11), 2860-2871.
  • Wright AE, Fumagalli M, Cooney CR, Bloch NI, Vieira FG, Buechel SD, Kolm N & Mank JE (2018) . Evolution Letters, 2(2), 52-61.
  • Wright AE, Darolti I, Bloch NI, Oostra V, Sandkam B, Buechel SD, Kolm N, Breden F, Vicoso B & Mank JE (2017) . Nature Communications, 8, 14251.
  • Wright AE, Dean R, Zimmer F & Mank JE (2016) . Nature Communications, 7.
  • Harrison PW, Wright AE, Zimmer F, Dean R, Montgomery SH, Pointer MA & Mank JE (2015) . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(14), 4393-4398.
  • Wright AE, Harrison PW, Zimmer F, Montgomery SH, Pointer MA & Mank JE (2015) . Molecular Ecology, 24(6), 1218-1235.
  • Wright AE, Moghadam HK & Mank JE (2012) . Genetics, 192(4), 1433-1445.

All publications

Journal articles

  • Price P, Parkus S, Lloyd V, Alston B, Bradshaw S, Bates S, Hughes M, Paterson S, Burke T, Darolti I , Pomiankowski A et al (2025) . PLoS Genetics, 21(9).
  • Palmer Droguett DH, Fletcher M, Alston BT, Kocher S, Cabral-de-Mello DC & Wright AE (2024) . Genome Biology and Evolution, 16(12).
  • Smith J, Alfieri JM, Anthony N, Arensburger P, Athrey GN, Balacco J, Balic A, Bardou P, Barela P, Bigot Y , Blackmon H et al (2023) . Cytogenetic and Genome Research.
  • Price PD, Parkus SM & Wright AE (2023) . Current Opinion in Genetics and Development, 80.
  • Price PD, Palmer Droguett DH, Taylor JA, Kim DW, Place ES, Rogers TF, Mank JE, Cooney CR & Wright AE (2022) . Nature Ecology & Evolution, 6(12), 1838-1839.
  • Price PD, Palmer Droguett DH, Taylor JA, Kim DW, Place ES, Rogers TF, Mank JE, Cooney CR & Wright AE (2022) . Nature Ecology and Evolution, 6, 1035-1045.
  • Darolti I, Almeida P, Wright AE & Mank JE (2022) . Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 35(12), 1646-1658.
  • Lin Y, Darolti I, Furman BLS, Almeida P, Sandkam BA, Breden F, Wright AE & Mank JE (2022) . Molecular Ecology, 31(6), 1853-1863.
  • Cooney CR, Mank JE & Wright AE (2021) . Evolution, 75(11), 2857-2866.
  • Rogers TF, Pizzari T & Wright AE (2021) . Journal of Heredity, 112(3), 250-259.
  • Rogers TF, Palmer DH & Wright AE (2021) . Molecular Biology and Evolution, 38(2), 519-530.
  • Shearn R, Wright AE, Mousset S, Régis C, Penel S, Lemaitre J-F, Douay G, Crouau-Roy B, Lecompte E & Marais GAB (2020) . eLife, 9.
  • Darolti I, Wright AE & Mank JE (2020) . Genome Biology and Evolution, 12(6), 965-977.
  • Furman BLS, Metzger DCH, Darolti I, Wright AE, Sandkam BA, Almeida P, Shu JJ & Mank JE (2020) . Genome Biology and Evolution, 12(6), 750-763.
  • Cooney CR, Sheard C, Clark AD, Healy SD, Liker A, Street SE, Troisi CA, Thomas GH, Szekely T, Hemmings N & Wright AE (2020) . Nature Communications, 11.
  • Mank JE, Shu JJ & Wright AE (2020) . Molecular Ecology, 29(2), 215-217.
  • Palmer DH, Rogers TF, Dean R & Wright AE (2019) . Molecular Ecology, 28(21), 4709-4724.
  • Fox EA, Wright AE, Fumagalli M & Vieira FG (2019) . Bioinformatics, 35(19), 3855-3856.
  • Darolti I, Wright AE, Sandkam BA, Morris J, Bloch NI, Farré M, Fuller RC, Bourne GR, Larkin DM, Breden F & Mank JE (2019) . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(38), 19031-19036.
  • Wright AE, Rogers TF, Fumagalli M, Cooney CR & Mank JE (2019) . Molecular Ecology, 28(11), 2860-2871.
  • Wright AE, Darolti I, Bloch NI, Oostra V, Sandkam BA, Buechel SD, Kolm N, Breden F, Vicoso B & Mank JE (2019) . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(26), 12607-12608.
  • Morris J, Darolti I, Bloch NI, Wright AE & Mank JE (2018) . Genes (Basel), 9(5).
  • Wright AE, Fumagalli M, Cooney CR, Bloch NI, Vieira FG, Buechel SD, Kolm N & Mank JE (2018) . Evolution Letters, 2(2), 52-61.
  • Darolti I, Wright AE, Pucholt P, Berlin S & Mank JE (2018) . Molecular Ecology, 27(3), 694-708.
  • Pucholt P, Wright AE, Liu Conze L, Mank JE & Berlin S (2017) . Molecular Biology and Evolution, 34(8), 1991-2001.
  • Wright AE, Darolti I, Bloch NI, Oostra V, Sandkam B, Buechel SD, Kolm N, Breden F, Vicoso B & Mank JE (2017) . Nature Communications, 8, 14251.
  • Dean R, Wright AE, Marsh-Rollo SE, Nugent BM, Alonzo SH & Mank JE (2017) . Molecular Ecology, 26(2), 505-518.
  • Wright AE, Dean R, Zimmer F & Mank JE (2016) . Nature Communications, 7.
  • Mullon C, Wright AE, Reuter M, Pomiankowski A & Mank JE (2015) . Nature Communications, 6(1), ---.
  • Dean R, Harrison PW, Wright AE, Zimmer F & Mank JE (2015) . Molecular Biology and Evolution, 32(10), 2646-2656.
  • Wright AE, Zimmer F, Harrison PW & Mank JE (2015) . Genetics, 201(2), 587-598.
  • Harrison PW, Wright AE, Zimmer F, Dean R, Montgomery SH, Pointer MA & Mank JE (2015) . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(14), 4393-4398.
  • Wright AE, Harrison PW, Zimmer F, Montgomery SH, Pointer MA & Mank JE (2015) . Molecular Ecology, 24(6), 1218-1235.
  • Wright AE, Harrison PW, Montgomery SH, Pointer MA & Mank JE (2014) . Evolution, 68(11), 3281-3295.
  • Wright AE & Mank JE (2013) . Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 26(9), 1841-1853.
  • Wright AE, Moghadam HK & Mank JE (2012) . Genetics, 192(4), 1433-1445.
  • Moghadam HK, Pointer MA, Wright AE, Berlin S & Mank JE (2012) . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(21), 8207-8211.
  • Wright AE & Mank JE (2012) . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(14), 5144-5145.
  • Bonsall MB & Wright AE (2012) . Ecology and Evolution, 2(3), 515-524.
  • Harrison PW, Wright AE & Mank JE (2012) . Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology, 23(2), 222-229.
  • Pointer MA, Harrison PW, Wright AE & Mank JE () . PLoS Genetics, 9(8), e1003697-e1003697.
Research group

Postdocs

  • Daniela Palmer (2019-2021) - NSF Postdoctoral Fellow: Evolution and diversity of sex chromosomes

PhD students

  • Ben Alston (2023-2027) - NERC ACCE DTP: The evolution and genomics of honest sexual signals
  • Peter Price (2020-2024) - NERC ACCE DTP: The evolution and genetics of sexual dimorphism
  • Thea Rogers (2017-2021) - NERC ACCE DTP: Evolutionary dynamics of the avian sex chromosomes
  • Iulia Darolti (2015-2019) - BBSRC DTP: The evolution of sex chromosomes, and their role in sexually selected traits
Teaching activities
  • BIS418 - Advanced Biological Analysis
  • BIS311 - Topics in Evolutionary Genetics
  • BIS315 - Human Evolutionary Genetics
  • BIS305 - Human Genomics Lab Course
  • BIS223 - Evolutionary Biology
  • BIS302 - L3 dissertations BIS312 - L3 projects
Professional activities and memberships

Prizes and Awards

  • 2023 Philip Leverhulme Prize, Leverhulme Trust
  • 2022 European Research Council Starting Grant
  • 2021 Balfour Lecture, Genetics Society
  • 2019 'Rising Star in Evolution', University of Toronto
  • 2017 Jasper Loftus-Hills Young Investigator Award, American Society of Naturalists 2016 Certificate of Commendation, ZSL Scientific Awards Committee
  • 2015 Presidents’ Award for Outstanding Dissertation Paper in Evolution, Society for the Study of Evolution
  • 2012 Walter M. Fitch Prize Finalist, Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution

External activities

  • Associate Editor: Molecular Ecology (2024-present)
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
  • Member of Peer Review College, Natural Environment Research Council (2020 - present)
  • Associate Editor: Proceedings of the Royal Society B (2019 - present)

Internal activities

  • Lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion for Ecology and Evolutionary
  • Biology Biological Sciences Athena Swan Action Group
  • Organiser of Annual Margaret Savigear Lectures

Links