Lourdes Pena-Castillo

Dr. Lourdes Pena-Castillo is a Professor jointly appointed in the Departments of Computer Science and Biology at Memorial University of Newfoundland's Faculty of Science. Her research focuses on applying machine learning and bioinformatics to study bacterial gene regulation, with emphasis on transcriptomics, gene expression pathways, and microbiology. She leads the Bioinformatics Lab at MUN, developing computational tools like Promotech for promoter prediction and sRNARFTarget for sRNA target identification.

• Education:
  • BSc in Information Systems Engineering, ITESM-Mexico
  • MSc in Computer Science, University of Alberta
  • PhD in Computer Science (Doktoringenieurin), Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg
  • Postdoc in Bioinformatics, University of Toronto
• Research Interests: Bioinformatics, Genomics, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Transcriptomics, Gene Regulation, Microbiology

Her work integrates computational methods with biological data to address challenges in molecular biology, including analyzing bacterial sRNA functions, promoter recognition, and disease diagnostics using machine learning. She has advised numerous graduate students, including PhD candidates Purvikalyan Pallegar and Bonita McCuaig, and MSc students like Ruben Chevez-Guardado and Kratika Naskulwar. Her lab focuses on translational research with applications in both basic science and clinical contexts.

Publications span computational methods for bacterial gene regulation, bioinformatics tool development, and interdisciplinary projects in VR and healthcare informatics. Her research has contributed to understanding symbiotic relationships in marine organisms, inflammatory bowel disease diagnostics, and clavulanic acid production in Streptomyces.

• Grants & Collaborations: Works with interdisciplinary teams across computer science and biology, supported by grants enabling projects in bacterial genomics and computational tool development.
• Labs & Teams: Leads the Bioinformatics Lab at MUN, fostering collaborations with researchers in microbiology, computer science, and healthcare.