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David R Penas
Postdoctoral Researcher
Computational Biology Lab, MBG-CSIC
Background
Background
I graduated with a BASc in Computer Engineering from the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) in 2011 and an MSc in High-Performance Computing at USC in 2012, receiving the Best Master's Thesis Award. I began my professional career as an assistant researcher in a transfer project between the Galicia Supercomputing Center (CESGA) and USC. In 2012, I was funded by the FPI Grant from MINECO to support my predoctoral studies in the Bioprocess Engineering Group at IIM-CSIC (Spanish Research Council). In 2017, I attained an international Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from the University of Coruña (UDC), achieving the top qualification of 'Sobresaliente Cum Laude' and receiving the UDC Best Thesis Award.
In my postdoctoral stage, from 2017 to 2019, I was hired as an associate researcher at the Institute of Mathematics (IMAT) at USC. In addition to developing my research line, I was involved in multiple collaborations related to Computer Science, Operational Research, and Statistics, thereby strengthening my mathematical knowledge. Concurrently, I participated in a transference project intending to optimize logistics in process plants for a petrol company (REPSOL SA).
From 2019 to 2021, the Regional Government of Galicia funded me for the proposal titled 'Development of new methods and models in optimization problems within logistics management'. Consequently, I served as the Principal Investigator (PI) for this project to collaborate with Professors at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Oporto. Later, I returned to IIM-CSIC to work under CanPathPro, an EU project aimed at developing predictive models of biological signaling pathways in the context of cancer.
In 2022, our research group was moved to the Biological Mission of Galicia (CSIC) in Pontevedra, where I am currently a postdoc in the Computational Biology Lab, led by Professor Julio R. Banga. Since April 2023, our group and CESGA have created an Associated Research Unit focusing on the use of high-performance and quantum computing to solve hard optimization problems in systems biology.
Regarding international stays, I was a visiting researcher from October 2019 to April 2021 at the Edinburgh Research Group in Optimization from the University of Edinburgh. Besides, I spent three months in the Saez-Rodriguez Group (University RTW Aachen) during my PhD.
I have published over 21 peer-reviewed papers: 15 in JCR-indexed journals (8 in Q1), and 6 in conference papers featured in important indexed proceedings.
As lead author, I have contributed to ten national and international conferences, and eleven projects have supported my research over the years. During my postdoctoral stage, I was awarded two separate grants by IMAT-USC and the Regional Government of Galicia, each based on my own work plan. These grants ensured the independence of my scientific research and established international collaborations that continue to benefit me today. Besides, I have worked as an associated researcher on technology transfer projects with companies such as Repsol SA, CESGA, ITMATI, and Alacris Theranostics GmbH.
Regarding teaching activities and scientific dissemination, I have supervised 2 BSc theses in Mathematics and Computer Science degrees and 2 MSc theses in the Master's program on Statistical and OR Methods at USC. I also obtained the ANECA assistant professor certification in 2018.
During my research career, I have developed multiple optimization tools to solve problems of a diverse nature. User communities from different areas of knowledge freely use my solvers: biologists, chemists, chemical engineers, mathematicians, statisticians, geneticists, firefighters, and marine scientists, among others. All our software has allowed solving challenging optimization problems using modern computational resources and techniques properly, and most importantly, they are helpful to researchers.
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