Mariana Leguia
Bio
Mariana Leguia, Ph.D. holds a B.A. in Biology from Lawrence University (Wisconsin, USA) where she graduated summa cum laude as a Fulbright scholar, and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry from Brown University (Rhode Island, USA). She then pursued post-doctoral work in Synthetic Biology at both Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley, USA) and the University of California (Berkeley, USA). In 2011 she returned to Peru to direct the Genomics and Pathogen Discovery Unit of the Virology Department at the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 6 (Lima, Peru). Since January 2018 she directs the Genomics Laboratory at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru (PUCP). Her research focuses on infectious diseases caused by viruses and bacteria, especially those that are endemic to the region, and how these affect public health in Peru and around the world. Her laboratory uses advanced genomics techniques, including next-generation sequencing, RNA-seq and ribosome profiling, to develop diagnostics, discover novel pathogens that may affect human and animal health, optimize vaccines, and find genomic markers for disease risk. She has been the recipient of numerous awards and more recently was appointed by the Peruvian government to serve as an expert advisor during several infectious disease outbreaks, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic and the current dengue outbreak.
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