Prof. Llamas pursued graduate studies in the area of biomedical research where he concentrated on mapping genes with phenotypic effects in animal models, particularly those associated with disease. During this training he developed expertise in the areas of molecular genomics and bioinformatics, forged by years of practice in 4 research institutes in France (CNRS, Pasteur Institute, INSERM) and Canada (Montreal Cardiac Research Institute, IRCM).

Since his arrival at the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA (ACAD) in 2008, he merged cutting-edge methods and knowledge from biomedical research with archaeological and evolutionary questions and datasets, in truly multi-disciplinary studies. He is also a Visiting Fellow at the National Centre for Indigenous Genomics (NCIG) at the Australian National University.

Assoc. Prof. Llamas investigates a range of genetic and epigenetic mechanisms and host-microbiome interactions that facilitate human adaptation to diverse environmental and cultural stressors. He intends to combine a range of advanced new analytical methods (e.g., long-read sequencing, genome graphs) to integrate past and present indigenous genetic diversity from human populations around the world into a new human pangenome reference.