Mulusew Fikere, PhD

Postdoctoral Scholar

Email | ORCID | Google Scholar | LinkedIn

Mulusew Fikere (Mulu) is a postdoctoral research associate, joint between Purdue University and Eli Lilly. His background is in computational biology, with experience in large-scale whole genome sequence analysis, RNA-seq, and GBS in human and plant systems. His expertise includes meta-GWAS, gene expression analysis, polygenic risk scores, local ancestry inference, and genotype imputation. His research interests focus on statistical genomics, method development, and understanding the genetic basis of complex traits and population genetic processes. At Lilly and in the WedowLab, he will focus on translational work at the intersection of drug discovery and metabolic disorders.

Publications

  1. Fikere, M., Ryals D. K., et al. (2026). Establishing standards for genome wide association studies in eusocial insects through a case study in honey bees. Scientific Reports. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-51476-0

  2. Fikere, M., Hardner, C., et al. (2025). Accounting for population structure in genomic prediction of strawberry sweetness at a global scale. Scientific Reports.  doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-24188-0

  3. Couvy-Duchesne, B. Fikere, M. et al. (2023). Main Existing Datasets for Open Brain Research on Humans. In: Colliot, O. (eds) Machine Learning for Brain Disorders. Neuromethods, vol 197. Humana,New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3195-9_24.

  4. Fikere, M., Barbulescu, D.M., Malmberg, M.M., Spangenberg, G.C., Cogan, N.O.I., and Daetwyler, H.D. (2020b). Meta-analysis of GWAS in canola blackleg (Leptosphaeria maculans) disease traits demonstrates increased power from imputed whole-genome sequence. Sci Rep 10, 14300. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-71274-6

  5. Hardner, C.M., Fikere, M., Gasic, K., et al. (2022). Multi-environment genomic prediction for soluble solids content in peach. Frontiers in Plant Science, 13, 960449. doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.960449

  6. Nigus, M., Fikere, M., & Shimelis, H. (2025). Prevalence and Pathotype Diversity of Wheat Stem Rust (Puccinia graminis f.sp. tritici) in Eastern Ethiopia. Journal of Phytopathology, 173(4), e70113. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/jph.70113

  7. Yirgu, M., Kebede, M., Feyissa, T., Lakew, B., Woldeyohannes, A. B., & Fikere, M. (2023). Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers for genetic diversity and population structure study in Ethiopian barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) germplasm. BMC Genomic Data, 24(1), 7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12863-023-01109-6

  8. Fikere, M., Barbulescu, D. M., Malmberg, M. M., Maharjan, P., Salisbury, P. A., Kant, S., Panozzo, J., Norton, S., Spangenberg, G. C., Cogan, N. O. I., & Daetwyler, H. D. (2020). Genomic Prediction and Genetic Correlation of Agronomic, Blackleg Disease, and Seed Quality Traits in Canola (Brassica napus L.). Plants, 9(6), 719. https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/9/6/719

< Back to Team