Tomas Perez-Acle
Affiliation: Computational Biology Lab (DLab) – Centro BASAL Ciencia & Vida. Universidad San Sebastián
Country : ChileWorkshop: BioCARLA
Title: Applications of Computational Biology to Multiscale Modeling of Biological Systems
Computational Biology is defined as the science focused on the development and application of computational models for studying biological phenomena. This talk will cover the fundamental methodological aspects that enable the application of computational biology to the study of life across multiple scales, emphasizing the usage of High-Performance Computing (HPC) as a fundamental tool.
At the microscopic scale, we will explore the use of HPC in modeling and molecular simulation for studying molecular signal recognition and transduction. At the mesoscopic scale, we will examine applications of data science and network theory, leveraging HPC, in the regulation of gene expression. At the macroscopic scale, we will present applications of dynamic systems using ordinary differential equations (ODEs) and agent-based models, highlighting the role of HPC in
studying the phenomena of disease and information spread in networks.
Bio
Dr. Perez-Acle is the Director of Centro Ciencia & Vida. As an academic and researcher, Dr. Perez-Acle has a fruitful career, harvesting the results of a transdisciplinary approach in Computational Biology. His research topics include computational biophysics to study the properties of the electrical synapse in neurons mediated by connexin-based channels; the development of new artificial intelligence algorithms based on neuromorphic architecture and their use to dissect the retinal coding in mammals; the development and expansion of a parallel computational platform for stochastic modeling of complex biological phenomena using rules and agents; new mathematical methods for the inference, characterization and dynamics of complex biological networks and information as a modulator of human behavior. In the last 5 years, his work has given rise to 20 publications, all of them in Q1 journals, and the direction of 6 doctoral theses. His research funding has come both from national and international sources including the Millennium Initiative, FONDECYT regular projects, FONDEF, CORFO, ANID’s AFB 170004 program, and also from the HP Labs, ECU FP07, USA Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the USA Army Research Office. In total, during his 20 years long carrier, Dr. Perez-Acle has raised near to 2 million USD to conduct scientific research.
During his career, Dr. Perez-Acle has had an active participation as a member and collaborator of several national research centers, including appointments as Director of the Center for Bioinformatics of U. Católica de Chile (2001-2010), Professor and Associate Researcher of the Millennium Institute Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencia de Valparaíso (CINV), U. of Valparaíso (2010 to date), Deputy Director (2010-2013), then Executive Director of the National
Laboratory for High Performance Computing (NLHPC) (2013-2014), and Associate Researcher (2010-2014) of the Center for Mathematical Modeling, School of Engineering and Sciences, U. of Chile (2013-2014). Adjunct Researcher at the Institute of Complex Systems of Valparaíso (2016 to date) and Principal Investigator and Director of Information and Communication Technologies at FCV (2008 to date).