254T Poster - Population Genetics
Thursday June 09, 8:30 PM - 9:15 PM

Authors:
Javier Blanco-Portillo ¹; Mark Penjueli ²; Feiyang Liu ¹; Jan Sokol ¹; Charleston Chiang ⁷; Patrick Kirch ³; Christopher Gignoux ⁵; Marcus Feldman ¹; Keolu Fox ⁶; Genevieve Wojcik ⁴; Alexander Ioannidis ¹

Affiliations:
1) Stanford University, CA, USA; 2) NYU Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; 3) University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa, HI, USA; 4) Johns Hopkins University, MD, USA; 5) CU Anschutz, CO, USA; 6) UC San Diego, CA, USA; 7) University of Southern California, CA, USA

Keywords:
Population history

Available evidence confirms that the first inhabitants of Hawai’i trace their origins to the Austronesian-speaking founders of Eastern Polynesia. However, the precise identification of the proximate origin and timing of the settlement of Hawai’i are still matters of debate. Using ancestry-specific approaches to explore the genomic variation of modern Hawaiians and individuals from other Polynesian islands, we find evidence of a Tuamotuan origin for the inhabitants of Hawai’i in the 12th century, in contrast with previous theories that posited an origin in the Marquesas or Society Islands. We characterize the founder effects and population bottlenecks that resulted from this migratory process, and describe how they are vital for the development of precision medicine in modern Hawaiians.