Luigi F. Garcia Saavedra was born and raised in Lima, Peru. His undergraduate studies were made at Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, from where he graduated with a major in Science with focus in Biology. In Lima, he undertook advanced studies in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and worked as teacher and researcher. In 2013 he graduated from the Masters in Public Health program at University of New Mexico, with a concentration in Epidemiology. In 2014 he joined the New Mexico Department of Health as Substance Abuse Epidemiologist, where he focused on surveillance, epidemiology translation, and data analysis on substance abuse. In May 2017 became the Substance Use Epidemiologist Supervisor under the NM Enhanced State Opioid Overdose Surveillance grant.