Harmit Malik, PhD

faculty member

Harmit Malik, PhD

Professor and Associate Director
Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutch

Fax: 206.667.6522
Mail Stop: A2-025

Dr. Harmit Malik studies genetic conflict, the competition between genes and proteins with opposing functions that drives evolutionary change. His research could have implications for a range of diseases, from HIV to cancer. As part of this work, his team developed an approach for identifying genes that divide one species from another, which could help solve the riddle of how new species evolve. Dr. Malik also studies the evolutionary processes that drive our body’s interactions with viruses, including contemporary scourges like HIV as well as ancient viruses whose fossils litter our genome. With Hutch colleagues, he has characterized the rapidly evolving interface between proteins on human cells and viruses that make us sick. This work has highlighted surprising deviations from “textbook” models of these interactions, and it is revealing gene variants that could influence our susceptibility to infection.

Other Appointments & Affiliations

Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Education

PhD, Biology, University of Rochester, 1999

BTech, Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, 1993

"In this genetic conflict, either the host is winning or the virus is winning."

— Dr. Harmit Malik

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For the Media

The Media Relations team at Fred Hutch is available to assist members of the news media who would like to arrange interviews with faculty.

Email media@fredhutch.org or call 206.667.2210