Raul DURAN DE ALBA — HTBAA Fall 2026
About me
Hi, I’m Raul Duran de Alba, a biotechnology engineer and bioinformatician interested in connecting experimental biology with computational models. My training has taken me from biotechnology at Tecnológico de Monterrey, Guadalajara, to the GENIOMHE master’s program in Bioinformatics at Université Paris-Saclay, which I completed in 2026.
I enjoy both sides of biological research: working with cells and experimental systems, and writing code to understand what the data can tell us. The questions that interest me most involve how cells change state, how those changes contribute to disease, and how we can design experiments and models that inform one another.
My research background
For my master’s internship at IBENS, I worked on Boolean gene regulatory network models of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), a kidney disease. The project focused on podocytes and parietal epithelial cells. My work explored how RNA-seq preprocessing choices and differences between datasets affect the ability to infer and compare models. It made me especially interested in a practical question: how can we tell whether data generated in different laboratories are compatible before building a model from them?
At I2BC, I worked on a Snakemake workflow for SLAM-seq and RNA kinetics in yeast, using R-based analysis tools. Earlier, as a research trainee at Harvard Medical School / Brigham and Women’s Hospital, I gained experience with vessel-on-chip systems, cell culture, and expansion microscopy. I also participated in iGEM 2019, working on the Gliksys bio-ink project.
Across these experiences, I have worked with Python, R, reproducible analysis workflows, RNA-seq, and biological network modelling, alongside experimental biology. I am particularly interested in bringing mechanistic models together with machine learning, tissue engineering, and experimental design.
Why I am taking HTBAA
I want to move between understanding biological systems and building with them. How To Biomanufacture Almost Anything is an opportunity to connect my computational and experimental interests with automation, biological design, and the practical constraints of manufacturing.
My first course proposal explores a probiotic bacterial community for vitamin D production and absorption, motivated partly by nutritional challenges in Mexico. It is an ambitious research idea: producing vitamin D inside the gut without light remains unresolved, and improved absorption would need to be demonstrated.
Outside science, I am interested in art history, contemporary art, and curatorial practice.
Find me
Homework, Labs, and Projects
This site documents my assignments, project ideas, and learning throughout HTBAA — Fall 2026. Use the navigation bar on the left to explore my work.
Week 1 — Biomanufacturing project idea
A Living Probiotic Community for Vitamin D Production and Absorption
A proposal for a two-member bacterial community, including candidate biological roles, an automation strategy, manufacturing estimates, and the main technical unknowns.
Final project
My final project will develop as I explore the course material and evaluate the feasibility of my ideas.