Hi, I'm Luca

I’m a Data Steward and bioinformatician based in Turin, Italy.

I’ve worked with data all my professional life and I am keenly aware of the pains and pleasures of doing so. During my PhD I’ve studied data preservation, archival and stewardship, with particular emphasis on research data in the biological field. I’ve written multiple Data Management Plans used in several projects, including some large European grants, as well as the Data Management Policy at the Turin Cell Physiology Lab.

I firmly believe that we can do better science if we work in the open and transparently. Data is science’s lifeblood, and must be treated with the dedication and respect it deserves. This is why I strongly support Open Science, and I wish to devote my career to it.

Some examples of my efforts in this regard include:

  • I created and am the chairman of the Open Science Community Torino, a community devoted to increasing the adoption of Open Science practices in an around Turin;
  • I maintain the Data Stewardship Knowledgebase, a repository of information and resources for upcoming and experienced data stewards;
  • I created Kerblam! to package data science projects of any size for reproducibility’s sake;
  • All my work is published as soon as it is created, most commonly in my Github page or my current laboratory’s Github page (TCP-Lab).

Get in touch

To contact me, send me an email to contact(at)hedmad.eu, or at my current work email luca.visentin(at)unito.it.

What I can do

I’m adept at working with data, including its storage, formatting, statistical analysis, modelling, documentation and preservation. I’m especially skilled in working with genomic data, including RNA-Seq and mutational analysis.

I’m an expert library and tool programmer in R, Python and Rust, with a propension for functional programming. I’ve coded small, reusable libraries, project management tools, as well as numerous data wrangling, retrieval, conversion and analysis tools. I’m familiar with most mainstream version control tools (e.g. Git), as well as collaboration platforms (e.g. GitHub, Trello, etc…).

I routinely work with databases, and know my way around SQL. I’ve created a database for cell membrane transporters which can regenerate itself by pulling data from other databases and parse it with heuristics. This also means I’m adept at working with APIs.

One of the largest projects I’ve spearheaded is the transportome profiler, where I’ve investigated the pattern of expression of transporters across most cancer types. You can also find it in my OrcID profile.

I’m not a web developer, but I’ve created this website as well as others (kerblam.dev, the OSCT’s homepage and handbook, the DSK and my blog) and know how to use static site generators like hugo as well as how to write basic HTML and CSS.

I can manage and moderate online and offline communities and have done so in the past, a key example being the OSCT, its Discord server and the Turin Cell Physiology Lab’s private Discord server.

I am a nanopublication publisher, and I’ve published nanopublications in the past.

I know how to use LaTeX as well as the more modern typst typographical systems to create beautiful documents quickly and reliably. Find an example here. My Curriculum Vitae is created with custom Typst code, for example.

What I’m interested in

I’m deeply interested in how data shapes our lives. I feel that privacy and giving meninful choices to users regarding it is a must in the digital-first age we are living in. I am generally against AI being baked in in every corner of the net, given its current limitations and environmental costs.

I have a particular interest in productivity systems, like Bullet Journalling, Second brains and Zettelkasten. I think I read too many books about them.

In my free time I like playing video- and board- games and reading. My favourite author is probably Agatha Christie.

Academic achievements, degrees and scientific publications

I have a Bachelor’s in Biology and a Masters’ in Cellular and Molecular Biology. I’m currently a PhD candidate in Complex Systems for quantitative biomedicine, and I’m planning to obtain my doctorate by the end of 2025.

I have obtained the certification of Data Steward by attending the CUAP Data Stewardship course held by the University of Torino in 2024.

You can find the full list of my degrees, qualifications and scientific publications with my OrcID: 0000-0003-2568-5694. I avoid copying them over here as they might get out-of-date.