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Research in the Phillips Lab focuses on understanding the genotype-phenotype map: how genetic information contained within DNA is translated into the whole organism that interacts in the real world. We use the model nematode C. elegans and its relatives to pursue the molecular genetics of this map for traits such as body size, reproductive success, sexual interactions, longevity, and the behavioral response to temperature and chemicals. We also leverage the central role that C. elegans plays in aging research to study the genetics of aging and to discover new compounds that extend lonevity and healthy aging through our participation in the Caenorhabditis Intevention Testing Program (CITP) and by creating new genetic tools for using approaches from synthetic biology to address critical questions in the biology of aging.

We also focus on understanding how the genetic system itself is molded by the evolutionary process. To investigate this, we use experimental evolution and whole genome analysis within laboratory populations of nematodes to identify the genetic basis of the response to selection, and theoretical approaches to study the evolution of gene interaction systems and suites of coevolving traits.