Amaral's LAB

I am an animal geneticist and bioinformatician at the University of Évora, where I lead the Applied Genomics Lab and a research line on how domestic animal species co-evolve with pathogens and adapt to their environments. I did my PhD at Wageningen University with Martien Groenen, working on nucleotide variation and footprints of selection in the pig and chicken genomes. Since then my work has sat at the interface of livestock genomics, animal health and the conservation of animal genetic resources. I have led tasks and teams in European consortia, including BovReg and GEroNIMO, and I am Principal Investigator of national projects on genetic diversity, disease resistance and precision breeding.

Much of my work is devoted to breeds and populations that have been neglected: local, small in number, shaped by harsh environments, and genetically unlike anything in a commercial catalogue.

Currently I am an assistant professor of animal breeding and genomics at the University of Évora and a Principal Researcher at the Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development.