Richard Flamio, Jr., PhD

Education:

Ph.D. – Zoology (Genomics and Bioinformatics), Southern Illinois University

M.S. – Biological Sciences (Ecology and Systematics), Fordham University

B.S. – Biological Sciences, Fordham University

Biography

Richard Flamio Jr., Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Dominican University New York. He teaches several courses, including Microbiology, Bioinformatics, and Anatomy and Physiology. Additionally, he engages his General Biology classes in course-based research involving phage (virus) biology and evolution as part of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s SEA-PHAGES research consortium. 

Dr. Flamio runs a laboratory on campus that sits at the intersection of genomics, bioinformatics, microbiology, and immunology. The Flamio Lab explores how vertebrate genomes respond to microbial signals, and how host-microbe interactions contribute to immune function and disease. A major focus of research interest is how regulation (and dysregulation) of the vertebrate immune response is influenced by noncoding RNAs, such as microRNAs. 

Current research projects examine both the evolution of innate immune signaling pathways in vertebrates and the molecular mechanisms linking microbial sensing pathways to autoimmune disease. Using comparative genomic approaches and experimental models, the laboratory seeks to understand how immune regulatory networks evolve and how their dysregulation contributes to inflammatory and autoimmune disorders.

Prior to joining Dominican University New York, Dr. Flamio completed postdoctoral training in comparative genomics at the University of South Carolina and human immunogenomics at Weill Cornell Medical College and Hospital for Special Surgery. He earned a B.S. and M.S. in Biological Sciences from Fordham University and a Ph.D. in Zoology with a concentration in Genomics and Bioinformatics from Southern Illinois University.

Research Interests

Evolutionary genomics, host–microbe interactions, noncoding RNA regulation, comparative immunology, autoimmune disease

Courses Taught

Bioinformatics, Microbiology, Anatomy and Physiology, General Biology

Personal Lab Website

flamiolab.org

Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications

In order of most recent

1. Huang, J., Flamio, R., Jr., Campbell, N. R., DeLonay, A. J., Buhman, A. C., & Heist, E. J. (2026). GT-seq panel development for species identification and parentage analysis of closely related hybridizing Scaphirhynchus sturgeons. Molecular Ecology Resources, 26(3), e70124.  
2. Flamio, R., Jr., & Ramstad, K. M. (2024). Chromosome-level genome of the wood stork (Mycteria americana) provides insight into avian chromosome evolution. Journal of Heredity, 115(2), 230-239.
3. Flamio, R., Jr., Swift, D. G., Portnoy, D. S., Chojnacki, K. A., DeLonay, A. J., Powell, J., Braaten, P. J., & Heist, E. J. (2022). Haploid gynogens facilitate disomic marker development in paleotetraploid sturgeons. Molecular Ecology Resources, 25(5), e13742.
4. Flamio, R., Jr., Levano, S. R., Kashiwagi, T., Makkay, A. M., & Hekkala, E. R. (2022). Integrating ecological and molecular data to investigate species maintenance and interspecific hybridization between the redbreast sunfish (Lepomis auritus) and the pumpkinseed sunfish (Lepomis gibbosus). Canadian Journal of Zoology, 100(6), 345-354.
5. Flamio, R., Jr., Chojnacki, K. A., DeLonay, A. J., Dodson, M. J., Gocker, R. M., Jenkins, J. A., Powell, J., & Heist, E. J. (2021). Production of haploid gynogens to inform genomic resource development in the paleotetraploid pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus). Aquaculture, 538, 736529.

Richard Flamio Jr., Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Dominican University New York. He teaches several courses, including Microbiology, Bioinformatics, and Anatomy and Physiology. Additionally, he engages his General Biology classes in course-based research involving phage (virus) biology and evolution as part of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's SEA-PHAGES research consortium.