Education
Bachelor’s degree in Agronomy - (February 2015–November 2020)
Center for Agroveterinary Sciences -CAV
Santa Catarina State University - UDESC
Undergraduate thesis: “Improvement of cultivated plants at the University of California: From Conventional to molecular genetics”
Master of Science (MSc) in Genetics and Plant Breeding - (August 2021 – November 2023)
“Luiz de Queiroz” College of Agriculture - University of São Paulo
Master of Science in Genetics and Plant Breeding
Statistical Genetics Laboratory
Master of Business and Administration (MBA) in Data Science and Analytics (2022- 2024)
“Luiz de Queiroz” College of Agriculture - University of São Paulo
Ph.D. student in Crop Sciences (May 2023 - Present)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences
Department of Crop Sciences
Statistical Genomics Laboratory
Research Experience
Research Scholarship –Lab Project (2016 -2017)
“Evaluation of common bean lineages and cultivars for Santa Catarina State” Conduction of “cultivation and use value test (VCU)”, from the breeding programs of institutions as EMBRAPA (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation), IAPAR (Plant Breeding at Agronomic Institute of Paraná State), EPAGRI and UDESC (Santa Catarina State University), aiming to select superior materials for Santa Catarina State. Talissa experimented in the agronomic field at UDESC, under Professor Dr. Altamir Guidolin, the Principal Investigator.
Research Scholarship – Lab Project (2017 -2019)
“Creating an Active Germplasm Bank for Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)”. Conservation, conducting experiments, multiplication, and evaluating bean accessions in Santa Catarina State. Identification of accessions for morphology and agronomic characters, as a basis for future breeding programs. The experiment was conducted in greenhouses and the field by Talissa at UDESC and supervised by Professor Dr. Altamir Guidolin.
Intern Scholarship – University of California, Davis (January 2020 – June 2020)
Research intern at the University of California, Davis (UCD) in genetics and plant breeding, working in the laboratory of Professor Dr. Paul Gepts, focusing on Crop evolution, domestication, and biodiversity. The work focused on the genetics of domestication in common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), specifically examining pod dehiscence. Studies of complex traits: Insect resistance in Lima Bean (Phaseolus lunatus) and Virus Resistance in Common bean. Agronomy field in Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) and QTL analyses related to different bean topics.
Graduate Research Assistant - FAPESP Thematic Project (2021-2023)
Research developed under the Master of Science program: Response of bean accessions to the Root Knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita: Mapping of QTLs, transcriptional profile, and functional study of candidate resistance genes. PI: Professor Dr. Antonio Augusto Franco Garcia
Intern – University of Bonn, Germany (Summer 2024)
Area: Crop Functional Genomics and Statistical Genomics. INRES, with PIs Dr. Peng Yu and Dr. Frank Hochholdigner.
Graduate Research Assistant (May 2023- Present)
Scholar at the Artificial Intelligence for Future Agricultural Resilience, Management, and Sustainability AIFARMS Institute.
Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Project title: Enhancing Genotype-Phenotype Associations and Unveiling Rare Variants with Machine Learning.
PI: Professor Dr. Alexander E. Lipka
Publications
Peer-reviewed journals
(2025) Floriani, T. O.; Gama, H, C.; Moreno, B.M.; Costa, G. A. L.; Giordani, W.; Chiorato, A. F.; Bibiano, L.; Parker, T.; Camargo, L. E. A.; Vieira, M. L. C.; Garcia, A. A. F. Developing a model to implement marker assisted selection for root-knot nematode resistance in common bean. G3 Genes, Genomes, Genetics. In press. DOI: 10.1101/2025.01.31.635933
(2022) Parker, T.; Cetz, J; Sousa, L.L.; Kuzaya, S.; Sassoum Lo, Floriani, T. O.; Njau, S.; Arunga, E.; Duitama, J.; Jernstedt, J.; Myers, J.; Llaca, V.; Herrera-Estrella, A.; Gepts, P. Loss of pod strings in common bean is associated with gene duplication, retrotransposon insertion, and overexpression of PvInd. New Phytologist. DOI: 10.1111/nph.18319
(2021) Parker, T.; Sousa, L. L.; Floriani, T. O.; Palkovic, A.; Gepts, P. Towards the introgression of Pvpdh1 for increased resistance to pod shattering in common bean. Theoretical and Applied Genetics. DOI: 10.1007/s00122-020-03698-7
Agricultural science
(2019) Silva, J. A; Barrichello, E. C.; Oliveira, I. A.; Cerutti, P. H.; Dos Santos, M.; Floriani, T. O. Root system phenotyping for selection of agronomically superior plants. Revista Agronomia Brasileira, v.3, p. 1-5.
(2019) Cerutti, P.H; Dos Santos, M.; Gemeli, M. S.; Silva, J. A.; Almeida, É. L.; Oliveira, I. A.; Barrichello, E. C.; Floriani, T. O. Recurrent selection as a tool in the improvement of autogamous plants. Revista Agronomia Brasileira, v. 3, p.1-4.
Complete works published in conferences
(2019) Floriani, T. O.; Cerutti, P. H.; Santos, M.; Screening for the root angle character in common bean genotypes. In: V Simpósio Internacional Ciência, Saúde e Território, 2019, In: V Simpósio Internacional Ciência, Saúde e Território, 2019, Lages, SC. Anais do V Simpósio Internacional Ciência,Saúde e Território. Lages, SC: UNIPLAC.
(2019) Santos, M.; Cerutti, P. H.; Floriani, T. O.; Barichello, E. C.; SILVA, J. A.; Trevisani, N. Creation of genetic variability in physalis using methylmethanesulfonate (mms). In: V Simpósio Internacional Ciência, Saúde e Território, 2019, Lages, SC. Anais do V Simpósio Internacional Ciência, Saúde e Território. Lages, SC: UNIPLAC.
Presentations, Posters and Invited talks
(2016) Floriani, T. O.; Coimbra, J. L. M.; Cerutti, P. H.; Melo, R. C.; Cardoso, T. R.; Guidolin, A.F. Root distribution associated with yield components in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)., 2016, Lages -SC. Anais do 26º Seminário de iniciação Científica.
(2018) Floriani, T. O.; Wille, C. L.; Almeida, E. L.; Cerutti, P. H.; Melo, R. C.; Correa, S. C.; Coimbra, J. L. M.; Guidolin, A. F. Importance of experimental error decomposition in the discrimination of cultivars. 2018, Lages/SC. Anais do 28º Seminário de iniciação Científica.
(2019) Floriani, T. O.; Nardello, F. A. C.; Rodrigues, A. R.; Darius, D. A.; Melo, R. C.; Souza, R. S.; Adams, C. R.; Cerutti, P. H.; Dos Santos, M.; Guidolin, A. F. Genetic divergence between common bean genotypes through multivariate techniques. 2019, Lages/SC. Anais do 29º Seminário de iniciação científica.
(2020) Undergraduate Research Week at the University of California Davis (UCD). Bean Breeding Programs at the Gepts Lab.
University of California Davis -2020 Undergraduate Research Week YouTube
(2024) Science and Spirits 5 min lightning talk - Looking for Rare Variants in Sorghum
(2024) Oral and poster presentation at PAG (Plant and Animal Genome Conference) at the Workshop Breeding for Changing Weather Conditions - Multi-Trait GxE GWAS: Looking for Rare Variants in Sorghum. Talissa Floriani, Samuel B Fernandes, Mohammed El-Kebir, Andrew Leakey, and Alexander E. Lipka.
(2024) University of Bonn - INRES - Workshop on Statistical Genomics (organizer and speaker)
(2025) Discussion leader at Gordon Research Seminars (GRS), Lucca, Barga, Italy.
(2025) Quantitative Genetics and Genomics Gordon Research Conference, Lucca, Barga, Italy. “Enhancing genotype-phenotype associations and unveiling rare variants with machine learning”, Floriani T, El-Kebir M, Fernandes SB, Leakey A, and Lipka AE. February 16-20.
(2025) Science and Spirits 5 min lightning talk - Cracking the Genetic Code: Unveiling Rare Variants and Transforming Genotype-Phenotype associations with Machine Learning.
Awards and Honors
(2018) Scientific Merit: Oral Presentation earned a Scientific Merit Certificate and was awarded 2nd place in the Plant Production session at the 28th Annual Undergraduate Research Workshop at UDESC in Lages.
(2021) Scholarship from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq, grant nº 131678/2021-3).
(2022-2023) Scholarship from São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, grant nº 22/04061-3).
(2023-Present) J.C. Hackleman Fellowship/Illinois Crop Improvement Association Graduate Fellowship.
(2025) Advances in Genome Biology and Technology (AGBT) - Agricultural Meeting, Next Generation Leadership Award – Orlando, Florida.
Extension and Scientific Events
(2022 – 2023) GVENCK—Scientific Committee: The Genetics and Plant Breeding Group “Prof. Roland Vencovsky” (GVENCK) by Genetics and Plant Breeding graduate students at Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ/USP), under the coordination of Professor Dr. José Baldin Pinheiro.
(2024 –Present) Plant Sciences Symposium: Member of the Communication and planning committees for UIUC’s 2024 Corteva Agriscience Plant Sciences Symposium. Also responsible for external outreach.