My research interests are focused on the study of the genetic variability of the human populations, considering different aspects:

• The analysis of the whole genome diversity in ancient and modern individuals to unveil their evolutionary genetic history;
• The study of the human Y chromosome genetic diversity in order to understand the evolutionary dynamics of the human populations in Africa and Europe;
• The study of the genetic variability of African populations with a forensic relevance;
• The role of the gene conversion in the evolution and in the genetic diversity of the human sex chromosomes.

1. Ravasini F, Conati Barbaro C, Scheib CL, Tambets K, Metspalu M, Cruciani F, Trombetta B*, D’ATANASIO E*. A new perspective on the arrival of the Eastern Mediterranean genetic Influx in central Italy before the onset of the Roman Empire. Genome Biol Evol 2025
2. Ravasini F, Kabral H, Solnik A, de Gennaro L, Montinaro F, Hui R, Delpino C, Finocchi S, Giroldini P, Mei O, Beck De Lotto MA, Cilli E, Hajiesmaeil M, Pistacchia L, Risi F, Giacometti C, Scheib CL, Tambets K, Metspalu M, Cruciani F, D’ATANASIO E*, Trombetta B*. The genomic portrait of the Picene culture provides new insights into the Italic Iron Age and the legacy of the Roman Empire in Central Italy. Genome Biol 2024
3. Hui R, Scheib CL, D’ATANASIO E, Inskip SA, Cessford C, Biagini SA, Wohns AW, Ali MQA, Griffith SJ, Solnik A, Niinemäe H, Ge XJ, Rose A, Beneker O, O’Connell TC, Robb JE, Kivisild T. Genetic history of Cambridgeshire before and after the Black Death. Sci Adv 2024
4. D’ATANASIO E*, Risi F, Ravasini F, Montinaro F,  Hajiesmaeil M, Bonucci B, Pistacchia L, Amoako-Sakyi D, Bonito M, Onidi S, Colombo G, Semino O, Destro-Bisol G, Anagnostou P, Metspalu M, Tambets K, Trombetta B, Cruciani F*. The genomic echoes of the last Green Sahara on the Fulani and Sahelian people. Curr Biol 2023
5. Hui R^, D’ATANASIO E^, Cassidy L, Scheib CL, Kivisild T. Evaluating genotype imputation pipeline for ultra-low coverage ancient genomes. Sci Rep 2020
6. D’ATANASIO E, Trombetta B, Bonito M, Finocchio A, Di Vito G, Seghizzi M, Romano R, Russo G, Paganotti GM, Watson E, Coppa A, Anagnostou P, Dugoujon JM, Moral P, Sellitto D, Novelletto A, Cruciani F. The peopling of the last Green Sahara revealed by high-coverage resequencing of trans-Saharan patrilineages. Genome Biol 2018

*corresponding

^ co-first author

International collaborative projects with the Sapienza University of Rome and University of Tartu about ancient pre-Roman and Medieval human remains from central Italy

These projects, co-led and co-funded by me, aim to analyze the human genetic variability of central Italy from the Neolithic to the Medieval period. This work was part of the thesis of PhD students co-tutored by me and already led to two publications (on journals Genome Biology, Genome Biology and Evolution).

Further work is currently focusing on Magna Graecia and the Late Antiquity period. This research directly involves the Archaeological, Fine Arts and Landscape Superintendencies and the Museums responsible for the analyzed human remains.

International collaborative projects with KU Leuven, University of Cambridge and University of Tartu about ancient human remains from UK, Estonia, Belgium and Italy

In the framework of this collaboration, we are analyzing ancient individuals from the Neolithic to the post-Medieval period from different European regions and already produced several scientific publications on high-impact journals, with others in preparations (Science Advances, Current Biology, American Journal of Human Genetics, Molecular Biology and Evolution, Genome Biology, PNAS).

International collaborative projects with University of Chicago, Middle East Technical University, Trinity College Dublin and Sapienza University of Rome

These collaborations are focused on the Late Antique/Early Medieval period in Italy, with a special focus on the Longobard and Byzantine interactions.

International collaborative projects with the Sapienza University of Rome and University of Tor Vergata about evolutionary and forensic genetics of African and Eurasiatic populations and evolution of sex chromosomes.

This research line already led to several important scientific publications about African and Eurasian population history.

• ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4965-246X
• Scopus ID: 58287975000
• ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Eugenia-Datanasio
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/euglenadat
• Bluesky: @eugeniadat.bsky.social
• Full list of publications (pubmed): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=d%27atanasio+eugenia&sort=date

Grants & Awards

As Principal Investigator (PI) or Unit Coordinator (UC)

• 2026: Wenner-Gren Foundation, Post-PhD Grant
• 2024: CNR Biomedical Science Department Call 2023, Computational Science in Biomedicine Award
• 2023: PRIN2022 Grant, Italian University and Research Ministry (UC)
• 2021: Regione Lazio “Progetti di Gruppi di ricerca 2020” Grant (UC)
• 2020: Gerda Henkel Foundation Research Grant (PI)
• 2016: “Avvio alla ricerca 2016” Grant, Sapienza University of Rome (PI)
• 2013: PhD scholarship, Sapienza University of Rome, funded by Italian University and Research Ministry

Full list of grants as team member

• 2021: EASI Genomics
• 2018: “Anna Tramontano” Research Projects - Istituto Pasteur “Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti”
• 2017: National Geographic Society
• 2014-2015,2017-2018,2019,2021-2025: Sapienza University of Rome

• From AY 2021-2022: “Fondamenti di Genetica Umana” (3CFU), Bachelor degree in “Biology”, Sapienza University of Rome
• AY 2020-2021 and 2021-2022: Lecturer in the post-degree Master “Biology of Nutrition for the Human Reproduction”, Sapienza University of Rome
• From AY 2016-2017: lessons during courses of the Bachelor degree in “Biology”, Bachelor degree in “Bioinformatics”, Master degree in “Genetics and Molecular Biology” (Italian and English curricula), Sapienza University of Rome
  

Researchers

• 2024-2025: Post-graduate Research Fellow funded on my PRIN2022 Grant, IBPM, CNR, Italy
• 2024: Post-graduated research assistant funded on my Regione Lazio “Progetti di Gruppi di ricerca 2020” Grant, IBPM, CNR, Italy
• 2022-2023: Post-graduate Research Fellow funded on my Regione Lazio “Progetti di Gruppi di ricerca 2020” Grant, IBPM, CNR, Italy

PhD students

• 2023: One international PhD student from University of Tartu, hosted for 3 weeks in the context of my collaboration with PhD supervisor Prof. Tambets
• 2019-2029: Tutor of four PhD students of Genetics and Molecular Biology, BBCD, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy

Master and Bachelor students

• 2026: One Master student in Biological Anthropology, University of Bordeaux, France
• 2024-2025: Three Bachelor students in Biological Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
• 2019-2026: Three Master students in Genetics and Molecular Biology, BBCD, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
• 2022-2023: One Master student of Functional Genomics, University of Trieste, double degree in Master M2 mention biologie moléculaire et cellulaire parcours génétique, biochimie structural, University of Rennes 1, France
• 2021-2022: One Bachelor student of Bioinformatics, Sapienza University of Rome
• 2021-2022: One Master student of Ecobiology, Sapienza University of Rome and Sapienza School of Advanced Studies, Italy
• 2019: Two Master students at the Faculty of Medicine, Lab. for Human Evolutionary Genetics, KU Leuven, Belgium

• 2013 – 2017: PhD student at the Sapienza University of Rome
• 2013: Master’s Degree at the Sapienza University of Rome
• 2011: Bachelor’s Degree at the Sapienza University of Rome

• 2024: Chair of 5th session of first GIGA congress, Rome (Italy), 1-3 September 2024
• 2023: Scientific Committee (panel “Method development for population genetics”) and moderator of the session “Kinship and social structure” of the ISBA10 “New Horizons in Biomolecular Archaeology”, Tartu (Estonia), 13-16 September 2023
• 2023: Organizing Committee of the School of Genetics “The ancient DNA revolution: from the initial attempts to the Nobel Prize” organized by the Italian Association of Genetics, Cortona (Italy), 12-13 June 2023

• 2025: Reviewer of a PhD thesis, PhD in Genetics and Molecular Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
• 2021: Member of a PhD defence committee, PhD Programme in Biomedicine, Pompeu Fabra University, Spain

Scientific journals

• From 2019 – Reviewer for Science, Genome Biology, American Journal of Human Genetics, Scientific Reports, BMC Genomics, Human Mutation, Forensic Science International: Genetics, Frontiers in Genetics, PLOS ONE, Heliyon, Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences.

Research projects

• From 2025 – Reviewer for FWO postdoctoral fellowship, Czech Fulbright Commission, University of Padua.

• From 2024 – Deputy Treasurer of the International Society for Biomolecular Archaeology (ISBA)
• From 2022 – Member, International Society for Biomolecular Archaeology (ISBA)
• From 2019 – Member, Society of Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE) 
• From 2017 – Member, Italian Association of Genetics (AGI)

• 2025: Interview for a news article on Science “Skeletons from the Green Sahara Offer Genetic Peek into a Lost Human Population” (https://www.science.org/content/article/skeletons-green-sahara-offer-genetic-peek-lost-human-population)
• 2025: Workshop on Ancient DNA for the Sapienza International Italian-French Double Degree Master's Programme
• 2025: High school teacher training in collaboration with Sapienza University of Rome
• 2025: Seminar for visiting students from University of Kansas (USA) at IBPM
• 2024: Interview for the Italian evolution web magazine Pikaia “Piceni: un popolo dal genoma cosmopolita” (https://pikaia.eu/piceni-un-popolo-dal-genoma-cosmopolita/)
• 2024: Expert commentary in an ANSA (Italian National News Agency) news dispatch “Sapiens erano in tutta Europa già 45mila anni fa, anche a Nord”

• Development of a two-step imputation pipeline of ancient genomes at very low coverage
• Analysis of NGS data of both ancient and modern whole genomes from raw data (FASTQ files) to the alignment (BAM files) to the variant calling (VCF files) and downstream applications (PCA, admixture, f statistics, haplotype-based analyses, etc)
• Prediction of pigmentation and other phenotypic trait (e.g. lactase persistence, resistance to certain pathogens, blood groups, etc) of ancient individuals starting from shotgun low-coverage NGS data

Bioinformatic tools

• Excellent knowledge of the main bioinformatic tools and pipelines to work with whole genome genetic data from ancient and modern samples: samtools, BCFtools, VCFtools, plink, GATK, ANGSD, BEAGLE, SnpEff, Eigensoft package, bwa, contamMix, Schmutzi, etc.
• Excellent knowledge of R software
• Excellent knowledge of the Office package and Google Workspace

• D’ATANASIO E, Micarelli I, Trombetta B. What ancient DNA can and cannot tell us about past mobility and slavery: examples from Medieval Italy. New approaches to slaving and slave trading in the Ancient and Medieval Mediterranean. Department of Classics, University of Toronto, 15-17 April 2026, Toronto, Canada. Invited speaker.
• D’Atanasio E, Trombetta B, Risi F, Hui R, Metspalu M, Tambets K, Scheib CL, Robb JE, Kivisild T, Cruciani F. Exposome from our past: what ancient and modern genomes can teach us? Conference of the Department of Biomedical Science, CNR, 13-14 November 2024, Rome, Italy.
• D’ATANASIO E, Risi F, Mei O, Delpino C, Niinemäe H, Metspalu M, Micarelli I, Manzi G, Trombetta B. 2024. An archeogenetic analysis of Late Antique sites at the border of Longobard and Byzantine territories in central Italy. 30th EAA Annual Meeting, 28-31 August 2024, Rome, Italy.
• D’Atanasio E, Novelletto A, Trombetta B, Scarabino D, Cruciani F. 2022. Genetic analysis of circulating fetal DNA in the maternal blood: development of a high-specificity non-invasive paternity test. FUTURE@IBPM, 1-2 February 2022, Rome, Italy.
• D’Atanasio E, Scheib CL, Hui R, Robb JE, Cessford C, Inskip, Saag L, Tambets K, Metspalu M, Kivisild T. 2019. Phenotype prediction from ancient low-coverage genomes. SIBE/AAI Joint Session, AAI Conference 2019, 4-6 September 2019, Padua, Italy.