Welcome to our Getting to know us (a.k.a. Teamsembl) blog series, where we talk to Ensembl colleagues and ask them a series of questions about their role in the project. For this month, we chatted with Jorge Batista da Rocha, who is the project leader of the Ensembl Outreach team. Join us as we learn more about Jorge’s role at Ensembl.
When did you join and what is your job in Ensembl?
I joined the Ensembl team a year ago, in September of 2024. I’m coming on my one-year anniversary and am looking back on an exciting year! My role is to lead the Ensembl Outreach project. My team and I develop training on Ensembl resources and deliver it across the world. We also help support users who write to our helpdesk, and we maintain the documentation on the Ensembl sites. These tasks require us to work quite closely with other Ensembl teams, whether it be answering specific questions or bringing our users the latest features to support their work.
How has your role at Ensembl evolved since you first joined the team?
I joined Ensembl at a very exciting time – our new browser, Ensembl Beta, has been in active development and hundreds of new genomes are being added to the site every month! My team has new training materials to develop and trial out with users who want to access the latest genomic data. We’ll be working through the new processes needed as the new Ensembl site releases data every fortnight!
How do you stay up-to-date with the latest developments in bioinformatics?
Practice makes perfect – I like to try new tools and put them to the test. I’m excited about new tools for working with pangenomes. When it comes to training development, I like trying out new AI tools to make and improve learning content. Some can even take a research paper and transform it into social media feeds, complete with memes!
How did you get into bioinformatics?
During my undergraduate studies in molecular and cell biology, I was introduced to bioinformatics through working with protein structures from the Protein Data Bank. I was inspired to try out more ways that biology could be studied through computers. I enrolled in the first Bioinformatics major hosted by my department at Wits University, and started in a class of only 3 students. It was really awkward if you missed class – you would get a personal phone call! After that, I pursued postgraduate projects that were bioinformatics-based. I have a particular interest in variant interpretation, and I used Ensembl VEP as part of my MSc and PhD research extensively. I think that may have contributed to my applying for my current role when it was advertised!
Here’s a pic of me at my PhD graduation from Wits University:
What is your favourite way to relax and unwind after a long day at work?
I have two dogs, a labrador and a goldador. After a long day of work, all of us can’t wait to get out to a football field. We’ll kick about a football and the two doggos will have a great game of retrieving and chasing the ball around. I really enjoy training my dogs too, we’re going to scentwork classes. They can now search a car for a tiny piece of hidden cheese. I joke that they should be good enough sniffers to pick up part-time jobs at the local airport!
Do you have a hidden talent or skill that most people don’t know about?
I wouldn’t say talent, but something folks may not know about me is that I cannot resist dancing to a good beat. I don’t think I’m a good dancer at all, but I cannot resist an opportunity to bust a move.
Here’s a pic of me after being invited for some Bollywood-style dancing at the ICISALT Conference, at Graphic Era Hill University in Dehradun, India:
