My
research concerns molecular genetic methods to
study population dispersal and the maintenance
of variation. Currently I have two foci of interest:
indigenous people of the Pacific and endangered
Hawaiian forest birds. These two groups share
several aspects of their population biology: both
have undergone recent contractions in census and
effective population size, and both have experienced
recent infectious disease epidemics that have
left their mark on the genome of the individuals
surviving in nature. We have used mtDNA hypervariable
sequences and nuclear STRs to examine sex-biased
dispersal, and rRNA sequences to develop new diagnostics
for malaria. I collaborate extensively with behavioral
ecologists and anthropologists and encourage my
students to develop multidisciplinary approaches
to their particular questions of interest.
Selected
Publications
| Shehata,
C., Freed L, and Cann, R.L. In Press. Changes
in the native and introduced bird populations
on Oahu: infectious disease and the emergence
of resistance. Studies in Avian Biology |
| Cann,
R.L. and L.J. Douglas In Press. "Parasites
and Conservation of Hawaiian Birds." In
Genetics and the Loss of Species: DNA and
Conservation, eds. L. Landweber and A. Dobso,
Princeton University Press. |
| Cann,
R.L. 1998. Historical Ecology. Trends in
Ecology and Evolution. |
| Hickson
RE and Cann, RL (1997) Mhc allelic diversity
and modern human origins. in press, Journal
of Molecular Evolution. |
| Cann,
RL (1997) Phylogenetic estimation in humans
and neck riddles. American Journal of Human
Genetics (60): 755-757 |
| Cann,
R.L., Feldman, R.A., Agullana, L., and Freed,
LA. (1996) Conservation genetics in Hawaiian
birds: a new test for avian malaria. in
Conservation Genetics, eds. R. Wayne and
T. Smith, Oxford University Press, New York,
pp. 202-213. |
| Feldman,
R.A., Freed, L.A., and Cann, R.L. (1995)
A PCR Test for Avian Malaria in Hawaiian
Birds. Molecular Ecology 4(6): 663-674. |
| Cann,
R.L. and Lum, J. Koji (1996) Mitochondrial
Myopia. American Journal of Human Genetics
(59):256-2585. |
| Cann,
R.L., Feldman, R., Freed, L.A,. Lum, J.K.,
and Reeb, C. (1993) " Collection and storage
of vertebrate materials for molecular evolutionary
studies pp. 40-51. in Methods in Enzymology
volume Molecular Evolution: Producing the
Biochemical Data V 224 E.A. Zimmer, T.J.
White, R.L. Cann, and A.C. Wilson (eds),
J.N. Abelson and M.I. Simon (executive eds.),
Academic Press, San Diego, CA. |
| Cann,
RL and Lum JK (1996) Mankind and Pacific
Biogeography pp. 437-443. in The origin
and evolution of Pacific Biotas, New Guinea
to Eastern Polynesia: patterns and Processes
A. Keast and SE Miller (eds), SPB Ac Pub,
Amersterdam, The Netherlands. |
| Lum,
J.K., Rickards, O., Ching, C. and Cann,
R.L. (1994) Polynesian Mitochondrial DNAs
reveal three deep maternal lineage clusters.
Human Biology 66 (4) 567-590. |
| Cann,
RL. (1994) MtDNA and Native Americans: a
Southern Perspective. American Journal of
Human Genetics 55: 7-11. |
|
|