Biology Professor Taras Oleksyk’s pioneering work to fill one of the largest gaps in the scientific study of human population genetics was recently featured in one of the world’s most prestigious academic journals. 

An article published in the journal Science highlighted Oleksyk’s ongoing efforts to collect and analyze genetic data of populations in Ukraine and Eastern Europe which, until recently, had largely remained a “genetic blackhole” in scientists’ understanding of the world’s genetic diversity.

By filling in those gaps, Oleksyk and his colleagues – including researchers at Oakland University and around the world – are providing data that could yield important discoveries about the connections between genetics and human health. 

The Science article described Oleksyk as “one of the movers” behind a new genomics facility established in Uzhhorod, Ukraine that will support work on a genome-wide study of type 1 diabetes among Ukrainians.    

Led by Oleksyk, and funded by The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, the study involves collection of data that scientists can use to decipher the genetic underpinnings of type 1 diabetes, paving the way for future medical breakthroughs. 

Oleksyk, who was born in the city of Uzhhorod, helped OU establish a partnership with Uzhhorod National University starting in 2019. The schools signed a memorandum of understanding and went on to collaborate on the largest-ever study of genetic diversity in Ukraine.

Oleksyk also spent eight months in Poland as a 2024-25 U.S. Fulbright Scholar, partnering with Jagiellonian University, in Krakow, and Silesian Technological University, in Gliwice, to study genetic diversity in Eastern Europe.