Breno Fragomeni

Assistant Professor- Genetics

Contact

   Phone: (860)486-1069

   Email: Breno.Fragomeni@uconn.edu

   Office: George White Building, Room 205

   Lab: George White Building, Room 215

  

Background

Education

• Ph.D. (Animal and Dairy Science), University of Georgia, 2015
• MS (Animal Science/Breeding and Genetics), Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil), 2012
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Bahia (Brazil), 2009

Academics

Area of Interest

My current research focuses on using genomic information in predicting animals' performance, and implementing this information for optimum selection and breeding decisions. Our lab's main goal is to use genomic selection to improve novel and complex traits such as disease resistance, environmental robustness, survival, among others; we also aim to dissect the underlying genetics of such traits. Additionally, our lab utilizes various genomic tools to study the structure of livestock populations.

Research Interests

• Methods for genetic and genomic evaluation in livestock animals.
• Use of genetic and genomic tools to mitigate environmental impact in livestock.
• Genotype by environment interaction.
• Selection for novel traits, such as disease resistance, heat stress robustness, resilience.
• Animal breeding and sustainability.
• Use of high throughput data in genomic evaluation.

Classes Taught

Publications (Selected)

Toghiani, S., Hay, E., Fragomeni, B., Rekaya, R. and Roberts, A.J., 2020. Genotype by environment interaction in response to cold stress in a composite beef cattle breed. Animal-The International Journal of Animal Biosciences, pp.1-12.

Vallejo, R.L., Fragomeni, B.O., Cheng, H., Gao, G., Long, R.L., Shewbridge, K.L., Macmillan, J.R., Towner, R. and Palti, Y., 2020. Assessing Accuracy of Genomic Predictions for Resistance to Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus with Progeny Testing of Selection Candidates in a Commercial Rainbow trout Breeding Population. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 7, p.939.

Fragomeni, B.O., Lourenco, D.A.L., Legarra, A., VanRaden, P.M. and Misztal, I., 2019. Alternative SNP weighting for single-step genomic best linear unbiased predictor evaluation of stature in US Holsteins in the presence of selected sequence variants. Journal of dairy science, 102(11), pp.10012-10019.

Fragomeni, B., Masuda, Y., Bradford, H.L., Lourenco, D.A.L. and Misztal, I., 2019. International bull evaluations by genomic BLUP with a prediction population. Journal of dairy science, 102(3), pp.2330-2335.

Cesarani, A., Pocrnic, I., Macciotta, N.P., Fragomeni, B.O., Misztal, I. and Lourenco, D.A., 2019. Bias in heritability estimates from genomic restricted maximum likelihood methods under different genotyping strategies. Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics, 136(1), pp.40-50.

Fragomeni, B.O., D.A.L. Lourenco, S. Tsuruta, Y. Masuda, I. Aguilar, A. Legarra, T.J. Lawlor, and I. Misztal. 2015. Hot Topic: Use of genomic recursions in single-step genomic best linear unbiased predictor (BLUP) with a large number of genotypes. J. Dairy Sci. 98:4090–4094.

Fragomeni, B.O., D.A.L. Lourenco, S. Tsuruta, Y. Masuda, I. Aguilar, I. Misztal. 2015. Use of Genomic Recursions and Algorithm for Proven and Young Animals for Single-Step Genomic BLUP Analyses – a Simulation Study. J. Anim. Breed. Genet. 132:340-345.  

Fragomeni, B.O., Misztal, I., Lourenco, D.A.L., Aguilar, I., Okimoto, R., Muir, W.M. 2014. Changes in variance explained by top SNP windows over generations for three traits in broiler chicken. Frontiers in genetics, v.5:332

Masuda, Y., I. Misztal, S. Tsuruta, A. Legarra, I. Aguilar, D.A.L. Lourenco, B. Fragomeni, and T. Lawlor. 2016. Implementation of genomic recursions in single-step genomic BLUP for US Holsteins with a large number of genotyped animals. J. Dairy Sci. 99(3), pp.1968-1974.

Fragomeni, B.O., Lourenco, D.A.L., Tsuruta, S., Bradford, H.L., Gray, K.A., Huang, Y. and Misztal, I., 2016. Using single-step genomic best linear unbiased predictor to enhance the mitigation of seasonal losses due to heat stress in pigs. Journal of Animal Science, 94(12), pp.5004-5013.

Fragomeni, B.O., Lourenco, D.A.L., Tsuruta, S., Andonov, S., Gray, K., Huang, Y. and Misztal, I., 2016. Modeling response to heat stress in pigs from nucleus and commercial farms in different locations in the United States. Journal of Animal Science, 94(11), pp.4789-4798.

Fragomeni, B.O., Lourenco, D.A.L., Masuda, Y., Legarra, A., Misztal. I. 2017. Incorporation of Causative Quantitative Trait Nucleotides in Single-step GBLUP. Genetics Selection Evolution

Vallejo, R.L., Liu, S., Gao, G., Fragomeni, B.O.,   Hernandez, A.G., Leeds, T.G., Parsons, J.E., Martin, K.E., Evenhuis, J.P., Welch, T.J.,  Wiens, G.D., Palti, Y. 2017. Genome-wide association studies reveal similar genetic architecture with shared and unique quantitative trait loci for bacterial cold-water disease resistance in two rainbow trout breeding populations. Frontiers in Genetics 

Vallejo, R.L., Leeds, T.D., Fragomeni, B.O., Gao, G., Hernandez, A.G., Misztal, I., Welch, T.J., Wiens, G.D., Palti, Y. 2016. Evaluation of genome-enabled selection for bacterial cold water disease resistance using progeny performance data in Rainbow Trout: Insights on genotyping methods and genomic prediction models. Frontiers in Livestock Genomics.

Bradford, H.L., Fragomeni, B.O., Bertrand, J.K., Lourenco, D.A.L. and Misztal, I., 2016. Genetic evaluations for growth heat tolerance in Angus cattle. Journal of Animal Science, 94(10), pp.4143-4150

Lourenco, D.A.L., S. Tsuruta, B.O. Fragomeni, Y. Masuda, I. Aguilar, A. Legarra, J.K. Bertrand, T.S. Amen, L. Wang, D.W. Moser, and I. Misztal. 2015. Genomic evaluation using single-step genomic BLUP in American Angus. J. Anim. Sci. 93:2653–2662.

Hobbies/ Non-Academic Interests

• Sports: Weightlifting, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, volleyball, soccer.
• Cooking: Churrasco (Brazilian style barbecue), pasta, baking.
• Homebrewing