Background
Lum is a professor of anthropology and biological sciences and director of the Laboratory of Evolutionary Anthropology and Health (LEAH). He is a molecular anthropologist and evolutionary biologist whose research focuses on the origins, interactions, and resulting genetic characteristics of Pacific Island populations; the evolution of Plasmodium falciparum malaria drug resistance; malaria epidemiology of Melanesia, Southeast Asia, and Africa; interactions among modernization, technology adoption, and infectious and chronic diseases; ancient DNA; evolution of mineral embedded microbial communities; forensic genetics; animal and plant domestication; behavioral genetics; diet, behavior and microbiome diversity; and molecular evolution.
Education
- PhD, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
Research Interests
- Molecular anthropology
- Forensic genetics
- Malaria
- epidemiology; Melanesia
- Melanesia
