Janelle Nunez-Castilla

Janelle Nunez-Castilla is a computational biologist who completed her PhD using bioinformatics to
research the evolution of structure and function for cancer-related and viral proteins. When she first
began working with bioinformatics after college, she was amazed that she had never learned about it
before! As such, increasing bioinformatics education and awareness has become a huge passion for
Janelle. Now, she works as a postdoctoral associate on the Authentic Bioinformatics in the Classroom
project, an initiative to incorporate bioinformatics into high school biology. She hopes that earlier
exposure to bioinformatics will help students better understand biology as a whole and pursue careers
related to bioinformatics. Janelle also serves as the Postdoc Representative on the STEM TI Equity
Committee. During her free time, she enjoys spending time with friends and family, solving puzzles (all
sorts!), playing video games, and cuddling with her dog.