The aim of Dr. Pena's research is to elucidate the
physical factors involved in the biomechanical behavior
of the human brain in health and disease. The approach
is inter-disciplinary and at the intersection of continuum
mechanics, finite element analysis, brain imaging (MRI
and PET) and
neurosurgery.
Alonso Pena, Ph.D. graduated in physics from the ITESM,
Mexico, in 1991. He came to Cambridge in 1992 to join
the doctoral program in Engineering under the supervision
of Dr. Malcolm Bolton and began a collaborative project
on brain biomechanics with Professor John Pickard, Academic
Neurosurgery Unit, Addenbrooke's Hospital. After completing
his PhD. in 1996, he began working as a Research Associate
at the Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, Addenbrooke's Hospital.
Dr Pena is recipient of the Robert J Melosh Medal for
the best student paper on finite element analysis (Duke
University, USA) and the Rouse Ball Traveling Studentship
in Mathematics (Trinity College, Cambridge). In 1996
he was invited to participate in the Summer School on
Complex Systems at the Santa Fe Institute, USA. He is
currently supervising three 4th Year students with projects
on biomechanics.
Dr. Pena has published several papers on brain biomechanics
and hydrocephalus, and has recently
been awarded a Mathematical Biology Research Fellowship
from the Wellcome Trust.
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