About the Abouheif Lab
Driven by Curiosity.
United by Bold Ideas.
The Abouheif Lab brings together an international community of scientists who share a passion for challenging assumptions, embracing interdisciplinary thinking, and exploring the unexpected connections that shape life. From remote field sites to the frontiers of medicine, we believe that the most transformative discoveries happen when adventurous people pursue ambitious questions together.
Our Mission & Vision
Synthesizing eco-evo-devo to address grand challenges in science and medicine.
Our mission is to integrate ecology, evolution, and development to understand biological regulation in living systems. By studying gene–environment interactions across scales—from molecules to societies—we reveal new insights into disease and pioneer eco-evo-devo approaches to human medicine. Our vision is a future where eco-evo-devo medicine reshapes biology and medicine, revealing new ways to understand disease, discover therapies, and address pressing challenges in evolutionary science.
Meet the P.I.
Ehab Abouheif, Ph.D.
Dr. Ehab Abouheif is an evolutionary biologist and pioneer in the emerging field of eco-evo-devo medicine. Over the past three decades, his research has transformed our understanding of how biological complexity originates and evolves, using ant societies to uncover fundamental principles that connect genes, development, environments, and behavior. Today, his work bridges evolutionary biology and biomedicine, exploring how insights from nature can inspire new approaches to human health and disease.
As a scientist, mentor, and storyteller, Ehab is driven by a passion for bold ideas, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the belief that some of biology’s most important discoveries lie beyond traditional boundaries.
Download my CV here
Meet the Team
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Graduate Student
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Postdoctoral Researcher
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Team Member
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Explore more about our work
We are in the midst of a conceptual revolution in the biological sciences as the traditional borders between ecology, developmental and evolutionary biology are breaking down. The general goal of research in the Abouheif Lab is to integrate these fields to understand how genes and environment interact during development, and how this interaction influences the evolution of complex biological systems.
Special thanks to our funders
Why This Work Matters
The Future of Medicine Begins in the Natural World
We explore how the forces that shape life across millions of years can reveal unexpected solutions to today’s greatest biomedical challenges, from cancer to human health.