Academic Interests
Throughout my academic career, I've been interested in understanding the principles underpinning brain change, both developmentally and evolutionarily. At LCBC, I focus on analyzing neuroimaging data, collaborating closely with other researchers to better understand brain function and cognition at different stages of life. I specialize in early brain development in infants and children, where I analyze longitudinal data to explore the early factors that influence brain development and how these may affect cognition as we age.
Before joining LCBC, I worked as a postdoctoral fellow at both Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston Children's Hospital. My research there focused on neural pathway development, cortical folding, and structural changes in early brain development, particularly in children with neurodevelopmental disorders. I also gained experience with in vivo and ex vivo diffusion MRI (dMRI) in humans, nonhuman primates, and rodents, as well as with ultra-high field MRI and PS-OCT for ex vivo samples.
During my doctoral studies at the Life Science Zurich Graduate School, I studied patterns of variation and covariation in cortical surface and neurocranial morphology in humans, chimpanzees, and gorillas, in order to gain insights into hominin brain evolution. I also worked as a research assistant at the Neural Circuit Dynamics Lab, Brain Research Institute Zurich, where I helped automate optical, mechanical, and electronic experimental setups for behavioral neuroscience and analyzed fluorescence microscopy data.
Background
- 2021 – 2023: Postdoctoral training in Computational Neuroimaging and Neuroscience, MGH/HST Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging – Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
- 2020 – 2021: Postdoctoral training in Computational Neuroimaging and Neuroscience, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
- 2017 – 2018 : Research Assistant, Neural Circuit Dynamics Lab, Brain Research Institute, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- 2011 – 2019: PhD in Evolutionary Biology, University of Zurich (degree) and ETH Zurich (joint doctoral programme), Zurich, Switzerland.
- 2009 – 2011: MSc in Applied Physics, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Delft, Netherlands
- 2008 – 2009: MSc in Automation and Robotics, specialized in Photonics Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland
- 2002 – 2007: BSc in Mechatronics Engineering, CETI University of Technology, Guadalajara, Mexico