Bastien Llamas

Associate Professor Bastien Llamas is an academic within the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Adelaide. He holds affiliations with the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA (ACAD), the National Centre for Indigenous Genomics (NCIG), and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH). His research focuses on integrating past and present Indigenous genetic diversity to study human adaptation to environmental and cultural stressors, including genetic mechanisms, host-microbiome interactions, and migration histories.

His work spans evolutionary biology, population genomics, and medical genomics, addressing topics such as Indigenous Australian genetic history, the genetic consequences of colonialism, and global human migration patterns. Llamas has pioneered methods in high-throughput sequencing (HTS) and bioinformatics, contributing to ancient DNA analysis techniques. He has been an ARC Future Fellow and is active in interdisciplinary collaborations, including with the Indigenous Genomics team at the Kids Research Institute Australia.

Media outreach includes contributions to SBS’s DNA Nation, radio interviews, and international media features. His research has been widely covered in outlets like National Geographic, Le Monde, and El Pais. Llamas also engages in science communication through blog posts and educational outreach programs.

• Affiliations: ACAD, NCIG, CABAH
• Key Research Themes: Ancient DNA, Human Adaptation, Indigenous Genomics
• Grants: ARC Future Fellowship