She specializes in colonial Latin American studies with particular emphasis on Andean history and literature. Her scholarly interests extend to early modern literature and history of Spain, Portugal and the New World, translation studies, postcolonial studies, religion studies, and the ethnography of writing. Llerena's research has been awarded a John Carter Brown Fellowship (2016), and an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation/Volkswagen Stiftung Fellowship (Freie Universitat-Berlin, 2017). ​