People

Current Members

Photo October 2026: Left to Right, Ümit Bilginer, Emily Tabor, Agustín Chasco, Gabriel Zayas, Francisco Peñagaricano, Afees Ajasa, Derick Cantarelli Rosler, Tim Houghton, Barbara Nascimento, Andre Zambon, Sydney Mierendorf, Negin Sheybani, Huriye Doğru

Francisco Peñagaricano

Email: fpenagarican@wisc.edu

Ph.D. University of Wisconsin-Madison

Faculty Page

Google Scholar Profile

 

Afees Ajasa

Postdoctoral Researcher

Ph.D. Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Norway

Research Area: Dairy Cattle Genomics

 

Barbara Nascimento

Postdoctoral Researcher

Ph.D. Federal University of Parana, Brazil

Research Area: Dairy Cattle Genomics

 

Gabriel Zayas

Postdoctoral Researcher

Ph.D. University of Florida

Research Area: Computational Biology

 

Ümit Bilginer

Ph.D. Student

M.S. Akdeniz University, Türkiye

B.S. Akdeniz University, Türkiye

Research Area: Dairy Cattle Genomics

 

Agustín Chasco

Ph.D. Student

M.S. University of Wisconsin-Madison

B.S. National University of Río Cuarto, Argentina

Research Area: Dairy Cattle Genomics

 

Tim Houghton

Ph.D. Student

M.S. University of Guelph, Canada

B.S. University of Florida

Research Area: Dairy Cattle Genomics

 

Sydney Mierendorf

M.S. Student

B.S. University of Wisconsin-Platteville

Research Area: Dairy Cattle Genomics

 

Negin Sheybani

Ph.D. Student

M.S. University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

B.S. University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Research Area: Computational Biology

 

Emily Tabor

Research Specialist

M.S. University of Wisconsin-Madison

Research Area: Dairy Cattle Genomics

 

Derick Cantarelli Rosler

Research Specialist

M.S. University of Florida

Research Area: Dairy Cattle Genomics

 

Andre Zambon

Research Specialist

M.S. University of Wisconsin-Madison

Research Area: Dairy Cattle Genomics

 

Former Members

Fiona Guinan

Graduate Student (2022-2025)

Current position: Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding, Livestock Data Analytics Expert

Ligia Cavani

Postdoctoral Researcher (2020-2025)

Current position: C-Lock, Research Scientist

Guillermo Martinez Boggio

Postdoctoral Researcher (2023-2025)

Current position: University of California-Davis, Assistant Professor

Lihe Liu

Graduate Student (2018-2023)

Current position: MD Anderson Cancer Center, Postdoctoral Researcher

Larissa Novo

Graduate Student (2020-2023)

Current position: Angus Genetics Inc., Genetic Research Analyst

Hendyel Pacheco

Graduate Student (2018-2023)

Current position: Zoetis, Senior Scientist

Anil Sigdel

Graduate Student (2016-2022)

Current position: University of Wisconsin-Madison, Postdoctoral Researcher

Josué Chinchilla-Vargas

Postdoctoral Researcher (2021)

Current position: Breeding Insight, Animal Species Coordinator

Rostam Abdollahi-Arpanahi

Postdoctoral Researcher (2018-2020)

Current position: Aviagen, Statistical Geneticist

Juan Pablo Nani

Postdoctoral Researcher (2018-2019)

Current position: ABS Global, Geneticist, Dairy Product Development

Fernanda Rezende

Postdoctoral Researcher (2017-2020)

Current position: University of Florida, Assistant Professor

Rocío Amorín

Graduate Student (2017-2019)

Current position: LGC, Senior Bioinformatician

Yi Han

Graduate Student (2015-2016)

Current position: Amazon, Applied Scientist

Visiting Scholars

Huriye Doğru

Graduate Student, Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Türkiye (2026)

José Cortez

Graduate Student, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México (2025)

Federica Marín

Graduate Student, Universidad de la República, Uruguay (2025)

Na'imatu Sani

Graduate Student, Bayero University Kano, Nigeria (2024)

Pedro Nuñez

Graduate Student, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Spain (2024)

Mustafa Kamal

Graduate Student, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Pakistan (2024)

Bharti Deshmukh

Assistant Professor, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, India (2023)

Rodrigo Vivian

Graduate Student, Universidad de la República, Uruguay (2023)

Carolina Durán

Graduate Student, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México (2022)

María André

Graduate Student, Universidad de la República, Uruguay (2020)

Brayan D'auria

Graduate Student, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil (2020)

Laila Talarico Dias

Professor, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Brazil (2019)

Rodrigo de Almeida Teixeira

Professor, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Brazil (2019)

Megan Mezera

Graduate Student, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2019)

Eugenio Jara

Graduate Student, Universidad de la República, Uruguay (2019)

Gastón Rijo

Graduate Student, Universidad de la República, Uruguay (2019)

Helder Louvandini

Professor, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil (2018)

Lucía Balestrazzi

Graduate Student, Universidad de la República, Uruguay (2018)

Simone Da Silva

Undergraduate Student, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Brazil (2018)

Ligia Jimenez

Associate Professor, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia (2018)

Martín Bonet

Veterinarian, Embriovet, Spain (2017)

Hendyel Pacheco

Undergraduate Student, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Brazil (2017)

Daniel Vega Olcese

Undergraduate Student, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Perú (2017)

Paula Nicolini

Assistant Professor, Universidad de la República, Uruguay (2016)

Andrés Iriarte

Assistant Professor, Universidad de la República, Uruguay (2016)

Ana Ines Trujillo

Assistant Professor, Universidad de la República, Uruguay (2015)

Ana Laura Astessiano

Graduate Student, Universidad de la República, Uruguay (2015)