Dr Luis(a) Janssen was born in the capital city of Brazil, Brasilia. They have earned their bachelors degree in Biological Sciences, their Masters and their PhD in molecular Biology in the U. of Brasilia. From the undergraduate up to the Masters, Luis learned genetic engineering techniques to express proteins of interest in bacteria, under the supervision of Dr. Vicente Martins. During their PhD, amid the turbulence of the COVID-19 pandemic and of a negationist government, they secluded themselves in social distancing until vaccines were available. During this time, they started to learn bioinformatics and its applications in the genomics of microbes, which played a large role in earning their doctorate researching antimicrobial resistant Klebsiella bacteria, as well as influencing their research to this day.
Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, Luis has started to work as a Postdoc with viruses, formerly under the supervision of Dr. Bergmann Ribeiro. Since then, Luis explores the diversity, ecology and evolution of viruses, with a focus on invertebrate RNA viruses and through a genomic lens. Their studies range from the basic discovery of viruses in mosquitoes and caterpillars, to studying viral spillovers to linking genomic properties of bacteriophages and baculoviruses to their capacity of infecting bacteria and plant pests, respectively. Currently, under the supervision of Dr. Tatiana de Campos, they also continue to study the genomics of antimicrobial resistant bacteria, as a follow-up of their PhD theme.
In their freetime, Luis enjoys spending time with friends, from going to bars to museums and hiking. They also enjoy watching movies and appreciating nature.