Dr. Vasco Azevedo is a full professor at the Department of Genetics, Ecology, and Evolution, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil. He is a CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico) researcher 1A, member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, Commander of the Order of Scientific Merit of the MCTI of the genetics advisory committee and the public policy working group on biotechnology and genetic resources of COBRG/CNPq, coordinator of the Associated International Laboratory Bactinfl from INRAE and UFMG, and vice-president of the Brazilian Association of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. He holds a degree in veterinary medicine from the School of Veterinary Medicine of the Federal University of Bahia (1986), a master's degree (1989), a doctorate (1993) in the genetics of microorganisms from the Institut National Agronomique Paris Grignon, and a doctorate in bioinformatics from UFMG (2017). He did his postdoctorate work with the Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, United States (1994). He was a professor at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences of the University of São Paulo (2004). He is an expert in genetics and bioinformatics and his work mainly focuses on genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, vaccine development, diagnostics, and the development of next generation probiotics. He has more than 600 scientific publications, 14 books, and 60 chapters as well as 12 patents.