CV

Education

PhD in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Bristol, UK (2017 - 2021)

• Advisors: Prof. Alin M. Achim \& Robin Holmes
• Viva date: 7th of October, 2021
• Research Topic: MRI Classification for Alzheimer’s Disease detection via Sparse Representations
• As part of the Visual Information Laboratory (VILab), this PhD research project focused on the development of a machine learning-based algorithm for medical images, particularly MRI, for the classification of patients with Alzheimer’s Disease or its prodromal stage: Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).
• Use of Convolutional Sparse Coding and Neural Networks implemented on Python (mainly using the Pytoch library)

MSc. in Biomedical Engineering, University of Bristol, UK (2015 - 2016)

• Advisors: Prof. Alin M. Achim \& Robin Holmes
• Thesis: Structural MRI Analysis in Pre-surgical Paediatric Epilepsy. The thesis focused on the Analysis of structural MRI scans to detect epileptogenic zones in paediatric patients by using SPM’12 and CAT’12 (Matlab Anatomical Toolboxes), as well a High Performance Computing provided by the UoB.
• Relevant taught units:
  • Biomedical Imaging
  • Computational Neuroscience
  • Digital Filters and Spectral Analysis
  • Engineering Research Skills.

Bachelor Degree in Computer Systems Engineering, Universidad Autonoma de Aguascalientes, Mexico (2008 - 2013)

• The program offered by the Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes covered a wide variety of units, including physics, mathematics, electronics, control theory, and databases among others. There was a strong emphasis on programming units with a variety of projects to showcase the developed skills, such as a compiler and mobile games.
• Top of class with Honours.

Professional Experience

Senior Research Associate, University of Bristol, UK (2023-)

• Project: Deep Compressive Quantitative MRI.
• Principal Investigator: Mohammad Golbabaee.
• Funding Institution: EPSRC.
• Research, design and development of a new model capable to solve the quantitative MRI problem, whose traditional approach is time consuming and unfeasible for certain studies. This project involves knowledge from various domains such as magnetic resonance, fingerprinting, neural networks and optimisation techniques.

Research and Development Engineer, Micrima, UK (2021 - 2023)

• Working within a team to develop a new device for microwave-based Breast cancer detection device.
• Algorithm development, device monitoring and diagnostics.
• Data collection assisting the R \& D team in the development of the device.
• Planning and designing clinical and volunteer trials and subsequent data analysis.
• Various tasks, from digital signal processing to investigation of materials to mimic breast tissue.

Research Associate, University of Bristol, UK (2021 - 2022)

• Development of an algorithm for detecting various parasitic eggs in microscopy images.
• Main tools and frameworks: Python, Pytorch, Faster-RCNN, Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) such as Pix2Pix and CycleGAN for image enhancement.

Software Developer, Softtek, Mexico (2013 - 2015)

• Analysis, design and development of applications and systems, either built from scratch or enhancements of legacy software. Most of the works were built using Microsoft technologies, such as ASP and Microsoft SQL Server, aiming to meet the requirements and specifications provided by the customers.
• Root Cause Analysis (RCA). Troubleshooting skills which involve deep analysis of applications built in C#, ASP, Microsoft SQL DTS packages among others, and providing solutions to uncovered issues.
• Development of automated tasks using AppWorx and batch/shell scripting.

Publications

Super-Resolution OCT Based on α-Stable Distributions and Sparse Representations

Daniel Valdez Zermeno, Perla Mayo, Lindsay Nicholson, and Alin Achim, (2015). "Super-Resolution OCT Based on α-Stable Distributions and Sparse Representations." International Biomedical and Astronomical Signal Processing Frontiers workshop.

Classification of Alzheimer’s Disease in MRI based on Dictionary Learning and Heavy Tailed Modelling

Daniel Valdez Zermeno, Perla Mayo, Lindsay Nicholson, and Alin Achim (2019). "Classification of Alzheimer’s Disease in MRI based on Dictionary Learning and Heavy Tailed Modelling." 2019 41st Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC).

Super-Resolution OCT Using Sparse Representations and Heavy-Tailed Models

Daniel Valdez Zermeno, Perla Mayo, Lindsay Nicholson, and Alin Achim. "Super-Resolution OCT Using Sparse Representations and Heavy-Tailed Models." 2019 41st Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC). 1(2).

Convergence Guarantees for Non-Convex Optimisation With Cauchy-Based Penalties

Oktay Karakuş, Perla Mayo, Robin Holmes, and Alin Achim (2020). "Convergence Guarantees for Non-Convex Optimisation With Cauchy-Based Penalties." 2020 IEEE International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP).

Iterative Cauchy Thresholding: Regularisation with a heavy-tailed prior

Perla Mayo, Robin Holmes, and Alin Achim (2020). "Iterative Cauchy Thresholding: Regularisation with a heavy-tailed prior." 2020 IEEE International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP).

Representation learning via cauchy convolutional sparse coding

Perla Mayo, Oktay Karakus, Robin Holmes, and Alin Achim, (2021). "Representation learning via cauchy convolutional sparse coding." IEEE Access.

Detection of Parasitic Eggs from Microscopy Images and the emergence of a new dataset

Perla Mayo, Nantheera Anantrasirichai, Thanarat H. Chalidabhongse, Duangdao Palasuwan, and Alin Achim, (2022). "Detection of Parasitic Eggs from Microscopy Images and the emergence of a new dataset." IEEE Access.

Skills

Programming languages:

• Python, C#, Java (Oracle Certified Professional, Java SE 6), HTML, CSS, C/C++, JSP, ASP, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, MATLAB

Libraries:

• Pytorch, Numpy, Pandas, Nibabel, Matplotlib

Others:

• Microsoft Suit, LaTeX, good communication skills, team leader, quick learner, proactive

Languages

• Spanish Native Speaker
• English Fluent, TOEFL iBT 95 (2014)
• Italian A2 CILS Certificate (2014)
• German Elementary

Service and leadership

• Member of the Mexican Culture Society at the University of Bristol (2017-2021)
  • President from 2019 - 2020