Alumni Feature: Arturo Magana Mora

About

-By Rose Gregorio

CBRC Ph.D. graduate Arturo Magana Mora is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the prestigious National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Tokyo, Japan.

At AIST, he computationally analyzes biological processes that could help us understand how diseases affect us, as well as how to fight the effects of Alzheimer's disease. 

Arturo believes that coming to KAUST and working under the tutelage of Professor Vladimir Bajic was the best decision for his career. When he arrived on campus as a founding Master's student in Computer Science in 2009, he soon realized that KAUST offered a unique multicultural and intellectual environment with top faculty that motivated him to strive for excellence. He is especially grateful to Professor Bajic for training him to be a thinker and not just a specialist. "He assigned me with multiple topics that helped me understand the real applicability of machine learning to solve challenging problems in different domains. This has proven to be crucial as AIST is the Japanese national research institute with several interdisciplinary projects ranging from chemistry, biology, and medicine."

He encourages young aspiring scientists to leave their comfort zones and to search for excellence. "It may get hard or stressful at some points, but this is exactly what will open new doors and prepare you for life," he says.