Juliana Vianna
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| Juliana Vianna | |
|---|---|
| Born | Brazil |
| 🎓 Alma mater | Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| Known for | Study of penguin species in Antarctica Peninsula and Ross Sea Discovery of a new Gentoo Penguin species |
Juliana Vianna is a Brazilian associate professor at the Faculty of Biological Sciences at the Pontifical Universidad Católica de Chile, the alternate director at the Millennium Institute Center for Genome Regulation (CGR), and a researcher at the Millennium Biodiversity Institute of Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic Ecosystems (BASE).[1] Her research focuses on vertebrae genetics and biological conservation and numerous publications can be found in books and scientific journals.[2][3][4]
Early Life and Education
Vianna attributes her drive for biology to Jacque Cousteau and National Geographic.[5] She earned her Bachelor's in Biology and Master's in Ecology, Conservation, and Wildlife Management at the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais in 2001 and 2003.[6] [3]She then moved to Chile to pursue her Master's in Biology (obtained in 2007) and Doctorate's in Biology with a specialization in Ecology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (obtained in 2010), and has been living in Chile for the past 20 years.[3][5] While studying in Chile, she worked at the Faculty of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Universidad Andrés Bello.[7]
Career and Impact
Vianna has been working as an Associate Professor at the Pontifical Universidad Católica de Chile since 2010, and since 2022 she has been their Principal Investigator (PI) of the Faculty of Biological Sciences and the Institute for Sustainable Development.[6]. Since getting her PhD, Vianna founded the Laboratory of Molecular Biodiversity at the Pontifical Universidad Católica de Chile and has led/co-led 16 different research projects.[4] Of the five research projects she was in that were featured on the cover of many scientific journals, like the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States (PNAS), she was the lead researcher in two of them.[5]
In 2020, Vianna and colleagues compared the genes of 18 different penguin species using samples from 22 different penguins to gain deeper insight on penguin origins and evolution.[8] Their findings confirmed that penguins originated 22 million years ago along the coast of Australia and New Zealand[8]. The genome comparison indicates that penguins were able to diversify and live in different temperatures and salinity gradients due to an exchange of genetic material and certain genetic adaptations.[8] From the history of the penguin's evolution, Vianna warns that climate change is happening too rapidly and there is not enough time for the penguins to adapt.[9] Their research also disproved the theory that Aptenodytes are a sister group to all other species.[8]
In August 2025, research led by Vianna suggests that the current H5N1 bird pandemic has reached Antarctica.[10] Vianna and her team sampled 13 colonies from the Antarctic Peninsula to the Ross sea, and reported that nine out of 115 birds tested positive for the H5 avian influenza.[10]
Vianna co-authored a paper published in April 2026 that disproved that the gentoo penguin belongs to one species, but are actually four different distinct species.[11] Vianna and her team sequenced the complete genomes of 64 birds, revealing profound genetic differences and one new cryptic species of gentoo penguin, the Pygoscelis kerguelensis.[12][11] These birds were physically indistinguishable from the other penguins, other than a slight difference in size and vocalization.[11]
Selected Works
- J.A. Vianna, F.A.N. Fernandes, M.J. Frugone, H.V. Figueiró, L.R. Pertierra, D. Noll, K. Bi, C.Y. Wang-Claypool, A. Lowther, P. Parker, C. Le Bohec, F. Bonadonna, B. Wienecke, P. Pistorius, A. Steinfurth, C.P. Burridge, G.P.M. Dantas, E. Poulin, W.B. Simison, J. Henderson, E. Eizirik, M.F. Nery, & R.C.K. Bowie, Genome-wide analyses reveal drivers of penguin diversification, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 117 (36) 22303-22310, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2006659117 (2020).
- T.L. Cole, L. Dutoit, N. Dussex, T. Hart, A. Alexander, J.L. Younger, G.V. Clucas, M.J. Frugone, Y. Cherel, R. Cuthbert, U. Ellenberg, S.R. Fiddaman, J. Hiscock, D. Houston, P. Jouventin, T. Mattern, G. Miller, C. Miskelly, P. Nolan, M.J. Polito, P. Quillfeldt, P.G. Ryan, A. Smith, A.J.D. Tennyson, D. Thompson, B. Wienecke, J.A. Vianna, & J.M. Waters, Receding ice drove parallel expansions in Southern Ocean penguins, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 116 (52) 26690-26696, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1904048116 (2019).
- León, F., Le Bohec, C., Pizarro, E.J. et al. Tracking HPAIV H5 through a geographic survey of Antarctic seabird populations. Sci Rep 15, 29499 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-14651-3
- Juliana A. Vianna, Daly Noll, Gisele P.M. Dantas, Maria Virginia Petry, Andrés Barbosa, Daniel González-Acuña, Céline Le Bohec, Francesco Bonadonna, Elie Poulin, Marked phylogeographic structure of Gentoo penguin reveals an ongoing diversification process along the Southern Ocean, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Volume 107, 2017, Pages 486-498, ISSN 1055-7903, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2016.12.003.
References
- ↑ UC, Digital Direction-Provost Office. "1000 Genomas: Mapping Chile's Biodiversity". Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Retrieved 2026-05-06.
- ↑ "Juliana Vianna, bióloga: aportando a la conservación de especies a través de estudios genéticos". Ladera Sur (in español). Retrieved 2026-06-01.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Dra. Juliana Vianna" (in español). Retrieved 2026-06-01.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Juliana de Abreu Vianna". CGR Center for Genome Regulation. 2022-12-14. Retrieved 2026-06-01.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Juliana Vianna, bióloga: aportando a la conservación de especies a través de estudios genéticos". Ladera Sur (in español). Retrieved 2026-06-01.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "PDI - Resultado de Búsqueda". investigadores.anid.cl. Retrieved 2026-06-01.
- ↑ "Team | Laboratorio Biodiversidad Molecular". Retrieved 2026-06-01.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Sanders, Robert (2020-08-17). "Penguins are Aussies. Or are they Kiwis?". Berkeley News. Retrieved 2026-05-12.
- ↑ "El incierto futuro de los pingüinos | CONICYT". www.conicyt.cl. Retrieved 2026-06-01.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Detectan casos sospechosos de influenza aviar altamente patógena en pingüinos y cormoranes en la Antártica". Facultad de Ciencias Biologicas (in español). Retrieved 2026-06-01.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Sanders, Robert (2026-05-08). "Scientists split gentoo penguins into four species, one totally new to science. Three of them are already threatened". Berkeley News. Retrieved 2026-05-12.
- ↑ P-unab (2026-05-22). "Investigadora UNAB lidera hallazgo de nueva especie de pingüino - UNAB - Noticias" (in español). Retrieved 2026-06-01.
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