Education phD, Electrical Engineering / Automation

CURRICULUM VITAE

EDUCATION

PhD, Electrical Engineering / Automation,

Universidade Estadual de Campinas,

Faculdade de Engenharia Elétrica e de Computação, Campinas, Brazil,

Dissertation Title: “NP Optimization Problems, Approximability and Evolutionary Computation: From Practice to Theory”, April 2001.

Full-time Visiting Graduate Student, Physics,

California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA, Sept. 1988 – Oct. 1989.

Licenciado en Física (a five-year degree in Physics, with final Research Degree Thesis),

Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Department of Physics, La Plata, Argentina, Dec. 1987.

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  My papers have been cited more than 2304 times (data from Google Scholar, May 2009); this number has been approximately doubling every twelve months.
  

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  Identified new Multiple Sclerosis susceptibility loci on chromosomes 12 and 20 (Nature Genetics 41, 824 - 828 (2009)) the GWAS supported by an ARC Linkage and Multiple Sclerosis Research Australia, and in collaboration with the Australian–New Zealand Multiple Sclerosis Genetics Consortium that I co-founded.
  

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  Led the team that developed the first transcription factor map that can explain most of the gene expression variation observed in the gene expression molecular signatures for Relapse Remitting, Primary Progressive, and Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis.
  

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  Introduced the application of Statistical Complexity methods in Bioinformatics, and in particular, for the analysis of biomarkers of progression in prostate cancer, melanoma and Alzheimer’s disease.
  

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  Using a panel of abundances of 120 signalling proteins on archived plasma samples, developed a novel mathematical method for biomarker discovery that led to the 5-protein biomarker molecular signature for clinical Alzheimer’s disease. Developed classifiers that predicted with 96% total accuracy the onset of the illness (results published in PLoS ONE, Sept. 2008).
  

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  Developed a new method for clustering that helped, in a different application, to identify seven well-defined clusters of symptoms that categorized longitudinal radiation-induced rectal toxicity data. The result is a collaboration with one of the largest prostate cancer clinical trials in the area (results published in Radiother. Oncol. 2009 (Mar.), 90(3): 400-07; Epub 24 Oct. 2008).
  

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  Developed the first method to distinguish childhood absence eplilepsy from controls by the analysis of their background EEG (J Neurosci Methods, 13 May 2009).
  

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  Transformed The University of Newcastle from an inactive institution in research in bioinformatics to being a leader in NSW and in Australia in translational and clinical bioinformatics (via the establishment of the Newcastle Bioinformatics Initiative in 2002 and the creation of the Priority Research Centre in 2006).
  

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  In a collaboration with M.G. Norman (CEO, Scapatech), discovered 0.714782700791294…one of the 164 fundamental mathematical constants. From more than 215 000 000 mathematical constants calculated with more than 2 billion digits, our constant (named “TSP constant” in the link that follows) http://pi.lacim.uqam.ca/eng/table_en.html has been selected as “essential” for Simon Plouffe’s Inverter (see http://pi.lacim.uqam.ca/eng/ for the latest version), establishing one important opening conjecture in Computer Science— http://mathworld.wolfram.com/TravelingSalesmanConstants.html—that our constant may indeed be the elusive “TSP constant” introduced by Beardwood, Halton and Hammersley in 1959 (first proposed in Proc. of the Cambridge Philosophical Society).
  

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  “Memetic algorithms”, the field I have championed in the computing literature since my collaboration with M.G. Norman (Caltech Concurrent Computation Program Report 826, 1989), has expanded rapidly and gained worldwide reputation. A web search on Google with “memetic (algorithms OR algorithm)” returns 80 500 hits with pages containing information that refers to this subject.
  

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  Springer created, in 2008, the journal Memetic Computing—http://www.springer.com/engineering/journal/12293—and the IEEE has established an Emergent Technologies Task force in Memetic Computing to promote research in Memetic Algorithms.
  

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  Searching with the web search engine Google, in July 2006, a total of 4763 hits could be found of people/websites/publications that recommend my web pages.
  

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  My research output has been influential in Computer Science. My papers have been cited in a variety of journals and publications including:
  

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  My work in heuristic optimization has translated into a large number of applications in Computer Science, Operations Research (production planning, management science), Finance and Economics, Civil Engineering, Physics and Chemistry, Bioinformatics, design of experiments, and even into the design of interplanetary trajectories for spacecrafts. Articles that cite my contributions have appeared in the journals:
  

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  In recognition of my research outputs and trajectory I was invited to publish a chapter on “Memetic Algorithms” for the planned Encyclopedia of Operations Research and Management Science, published by Wiley (to appear in 2009). I was also invited in 2001 to contribute a chapter on Memetic Algorithms for the Handbook of Applied Optimization (the book was runner-up (Honorable Mention) for the Association of American Publishers “Outstanding Professional and Scholarly Titles of 2002 in Computer Science”).
  

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  My research output has been markedly influential in disciplines outside Computer Science. My skills allow me to collaborate with researchers in a truly interdisciplinary way. Aside from the obvious links of my research activities with the Life and Health Sciences, my research results have been cited in journals in a variety of fields, illustrating the wide impact of my research. These include:
  

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  Successfully bid for, guided and coordinated activities of the most multidisciplinary University Centre. This has been a very successful enterprise. In 2008, collectively, the Centre members have successfully attracted research funds in excess to A$9 000 000.
  
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  Supervised and guided PhD students’ thesis work (three students have successfully completed their PhD; currently directing four PhD students).
  
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  Supervised job performance of five post-doctoral research fellows and a Centre Manager.
  
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  Conducted and led Centre meetings.
  
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  Managed the Centre’s budget of more than A$500 000 yearly, including salary, equipment, travel, discretionary, supplies and miscellaneous expenses.
  
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  Participate in the recruiting and hiring of new professionals for the Centre.
  

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  Led a new initiative for the University and established bioinformatics biomedical research, which did not previously exist (managed a budget of A$500 000).
  
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  Recruited and supervised two post-doctoral research fellows.
  
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  Collaborated as an Associate Investigator and led the activities of the ARC Centre of Bioinformatics at the Newcastle node from 2004 to June 2006.
  
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  Created in 2002, expanded and finally achieved financial self-support of the Newcastle Bioinformatics Initiative (NBI). When I moved to Newcastle (Sept. 2002) there was no full-time research associates employed in our discipline as a result of external grants being funded. By June 2006, under my guidance, the NBI had a staff composed of three lecturers, three post-docs and four PhD students. Because of the NBI, proven excellence in research in Bioinformatics and leadership in NSW was obtained. As a direct consequence of my research, the University is now describing itself as having strong expertise in Bioinformatics in its publicity material: “Individual areas of research excellence include materials handling, reproductive biology, health economics, control systems and bioinformatics” www.biospace.com/company_profile.cfm?CompanyID=827220 www.irua.edu.au (see the information listed under “Member Universities”).