Hello, I am José Afonso Guerra-Assunção, a curiosity-driven researcher in the field of computational biology. I am currently part of the HerpeslabNL at Erasmus MC in Rotterdam.

Even though I have now left University College London, I'm still a proud member of the analysis team of PGP-UK

My scientific journey has led me to explore various areas within computational biology. I have a keen interest in understanding the complex mechanisms of life through the lens of computation and data analysis. This includes, but is not limited to, the study of viral phylogenomics, microRNAs, evolution, and pathogen genomics.

In my current project I am exploring the intersection of virus and host, specifically focusing on herpesviruses, smallRNAs, latency and the intricate dance between the virus and the immune system in the brain, and how these complex systems interact and influence each other. To further these aims I develop novel methods and integrate existing approaches in robust pipelines with a focus on openness and reproducibility.

Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to contribute to several significant projects. These range from working on the zebrafish reference genome sequence to studying mouse genomic variation and its effect on phenotypes and gene regulation, as well as the development of numerous methods for the analyis of pathogen or host genomes and transcriptomes. More recently, I played a part in several large projects organised in response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

At the heart of all my work is my passion for evolutionary biology and how everything is constantly changing and simultaneously responding to the previous change/challenge. I am captivated by the idea of evolution as a grand and intricate graph, linking together the threads of life in endless different patterns. It is this passion that fuels my curiosity and keeps me pushing the boundaries of our understanding using my know-how in computational biology.

For more detailed information about my work and contributions, please refer to my Google Scholar profile. Feel free to browse my repos and get in touch for collaborations or consultancy opportunities.