Hi there! My name is Román. I am a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions & UKRI Postdoctoral Fellow at University College London, interested in the ecology and evolution of microbial communities. My work has primarily relied on mathematical modelling of dynamical systems (especially stochastic modelling). However, I increasingly try to combine these models with laboratory experiments and analysis of published data.
My work with Wenying Shou at UCL aims to develop parameter inference approaches when incomplete data (e.g., where cells can be experimentally measured but chemicals can not) prevents inferring a unique value for some or all parameters required in a model (structural identifiability problem). As it turns out, "missing" variables are a common issue in microbiology, but also across the Biosciences and beyond. Our work exploits the additional statistical information from stochastic models to overcome the identifiability problem. Finally, merging theory and experiments has sparked my interest in experimental design and model discovery towards a more quantitative microbiology, where models can be parametrised reliably and underlying eco-evolutionary drivers discovered.
Before joining UCL, I was a PostDoc at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology (Plön, Germany), where I also completed my PhD and learned about stochastic modelling. I worked with Arne Traulsen in the Theoretical Biology department in close collaboration with the CRC1182: Origin and Function of Metaorganisms to model diverse ecological processes operating in microbiomes across the tree of life (selection vs. neutrality, host reproduction, and microbiome inheritance) and to infer microbial interactions from microbiome data.
Earlier in my career, I also investigated the persistence of microbial diversity in highly antagonistic communities (BSc thesis with Gabriela Olmedo-Álvarez & Moisés Santillán - IPN, Mexico) and the requirements to sustain microbial mutualistic interactions over long timescales in spatial models (MRes thesis with David Murrell - UCL).
A complete list of my publications can be found here.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch to talk about research or outreach activities. Have a great day! :)
Academic Path
- PostDoc (04.2023 - ongoing).
University College London (London, UK).
Supervisor: Wenying Shou. - PostDoc (01.2022 - 03.2023).
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology (Plön, Germany).
Supervisor: Arne Traulsen. - PhD Evolutionary Biology (09.2017 - 12.2021).
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology (Plön, Germany).
Supervisor: Arne Traulsen.
Link to thesis - MRes Biosciences (09.2015 - 09.2016).
University College London (London, UK).
Supervisor: David Murrell.
Link to thesis - BSc Biotechnological Engineering (08.2009 - 12.2013).
National Polytechnic Institute (Silao, Mexico).
Supervisors: Gabriela Olmedo-Álvarez and Moisés Santillan.
Link to thesis (in Spanish)
Research Groups
Current:
- Wenying Shou (University College London - UK) [website]
Former: