Short biography
I am a Biologist and obtained my PhD in 1990 in Genetics (Universidad Complutense, Madrid). After that I moved to the USA and France during three years to carry out post doctoral studies, specializing in Bayesian Statistics applied to Animal Breeding and Quantitative Genetics. I worked at the Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentaria (IRTA) from 1993 - 1999 and at INRA (Toulouse, France) from 1999 til 2003, when I became an ICREA Research Professor. I am currently based at Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG) on UAB campus. From 2022 to 2024 I was on leave working as Quantitative Geneticist for Corteva Agriscience, one of the largest plant breeding companies. Research interests
Most of features that are of socioeconomic importance in living organisms, e.g., plant yield or Iberian meat taste, are influenced by many genes of small effect. These genes are therefore very difficult to identify. My area of research is developing statistical and computational tools to utilize these genes in breeding programs. I participated in the consortium leading to the publication of the pig genome sequence and I am responsible for the first genome sequence of an ancient pig, and of the first Iberian pig genome. My current interests include the application of deep learning technologies to genomics in plants, livestock, and humans, the use of sequence data for genomic selection, and software development. Key words
Quantitative and statistical genetics, Machine learning, Plant and animal breeding ORCID
0000-0003-3524-995X RESEARCHER ID
H-6057-2015
