About me

Hello, and thanks for stopping by!

My name is Alex, and I’m a computational scientist based in New York City. Before transitioning to computing, I earned a PhD in molecular and systems biology from the University of Glasgow in Scotland, where I spent 10 amazing years. My doctoral research focused on how marine cyanobacteria detect and respond to color using special light-sensitive ON/OFF switches, known as cyanobacteriochromes-through a combination of molecular biology, microbiology, biochemistry, computational modeling, and bioreactor prototyping.

Afterward, I worked in assay development for drug design and later shifted to computational biology. For the past 2.5 years, I’ve specialized in proteomics pipelines, linear programming (LP), and mixed-integer programming (MIP) for metabolic modeling. Currently, I’m writing a paper on a novel method to simulate how free radicals damage cells.

I’m a supporter of open-source development, online privacy, citizen science, and the democratization of knowledge. I also encourage awareness of cognitive security and digital hygiene.

Outside of STEM, I’m just as passionate about life beyond the lab/keyboard. I practice dance, yoga, meditation, boxing, and photography, and I’m an avid reader of Sci-Fi. I also embrace stoicism and minimalism—and recently added the goal to learn motorbike riding to the list of things that stress my wife out. For fun, I’ve cycled across the Scottish Highlands on a 2-gear CitiBike and pedaled 300 miles dressed as Pikachu for charity.

About a year ago, I decided to step away from academia to explore new professional paths. While I will miss aspects of working there, I’ll carry forward my love for curiosity and discovery into this blog.

What You’ll Find Here

This blog focuses on creative, nature-inspired applications of computational methods, including linear optimization, mixed-integer problems, evolutionary algorithms, game theory, combinatorics, and clustering analysis. From algorithm-driven design to green technology, personalized medicine, and space exploration, I’ll share insights and tools with an emphasis on intuitive learning. I aim to make the content accessible to people with diverse visual and learning needs.

Thanks for stopping by—I hope you enjoy reading and learning as much as I enjoy sharing!