ESR6: Alejandro Fontal

 AlFontal
  LinkedIn
 ORCID
 alejandro.fontal@isglobal.org
 alfontal.dev

Host Institution
ISGlobal
Supervisor
Xavier Rodó

Project Title: Atmospheric monitoring and time series analysis of climate and pollution impact on vasculitis onset

Alejandro is part of the HELICAL project as an Early Stage Researcher based in the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) and enrolled as a PhD student in Biotechnology in the University of Barcelona.

Alejandro completed a BSc in Biotechnology at University of Barcelona before moving to the Netherlands to pursue an MSc in Bioinformatics at Wageningen University & Research, specializing in machine learning and data science.

Later on, and before joining the HELICAL project, he worked as a data scientist for the R&D department of DuPont Nutrition and Biosciences in the Netherlands, where he focused on machine learning aided engineering of industrial enzymes.

His PhD project consists on:

  1. understanding the epidemiological dynamics of ANCA-associated Vasculitis and related autoimmune vasculitides by applying time-series and spatial analyses to uncover their spatio-temporal patterns,

  2. unveiling their potential environmental (physical, chemical and biological) triggers based on historical datasets, medical records and air sampling campaigns and

  3. developing and improving the characterization methods of biological aerosol particles via the use of machine learning methods.

Check the video below to see a 15 second explanation of Alejandro’s project by himself:

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