IU Biology alumna Kayla King has won the 2017 Philip Leverhulme Prize.
King was a member of Distinguished Professor of Biology Curt Lively's lab in the IU Department of Biology and earned her Ph.D. in Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior in 2011. The Philip Leverhulme Prize recognizes the achievement of outstanding researchers whose work has already attracted international recognition and whose future career is exceptionally promising.
King has been an Associate Professor in Parasite Biology at the University of Oxford since 2013 as well as a Tutorial Fellow with Oxford's Christ Church College. According to King's lab website, her lab's research focuses on the ecological and genetic drivers and consequences of rapid host-parasite evolution. This involves using experimental evolution, genomics, mathematical modelling, and collections from natural populations. Lab projects explore the links between host-parasite interactions and big problems in evolutionary biology—virulence, rapid evolution, sexual reproduction, genetic diversity, and community diversity.
Prior to her position at Oxford, King was a Royal Society Newton International Fellow at the Institute of Integrative Biology at University of Liverpool, UK (2012-13) where she worked with Professor Greg Hurst.
As a recipient of the Philip Leverhulme Prize, King may use the monetary award of £100,000 ($135,000 US) associated with the prize to advance her research.
The College of Arts