Graduate Student, Bioinformatics and Genomics (BG)
I was born in Lima, Peru. In 2021, I received my HBSc in Bioinformatics from Lakehead University in Ontario, Canada. It was during my time there that I first became involved in virus research, specifically the relationship between Human Papilloma Virus Type 16 and various forms of cancer. I was tasked with developing a computational pipeline to detect instances of viral integration in human clinical samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas Database. Through my participation in this project I grew to appreciate the many applications of bioinformatics in the analysis of viruses, and their potential as models for developing new sequencing and computational methods. As a result, I decided to pursue a PhD in Bioinformatics and Genomics from Penn State University, where I have joined the Szpara lab in the hopes of continuing to find new ways to explore viruses using bioinformatics. Currently my focus is on Marek’s disease, a Herpes virus that affects chickens.
Outside of my the lab, I can either be found at the gym, where I practice bodybuilding, or at home playing board games. In the winter I also practice snowboarding. My desk is found at W-242 Millennium Science Complex. Feel free to come by and say hello!
Alejandro Ortigas-Vasquez
W-242 Millennium Science Complex
University Park, PA 16802
amo5740@psu.edu
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