Guadalupe Gonzalez

My role within Women in Computing:

As a Co-President of WiC I contribute by overseeing the work of the society, in planning events, liaising with contacts within and outside the department, and representing the society in general.

About me:

I am originally from Venezuela and moved to Spain for my undergrad in biomedical engineering. As part of my undergrad I took some programming courses, which I incredibly enjoyed. This pushed me to pursue a career in the computer science field so I enrolled in a masters in data science at Imperial, and I am now in the third year of my PhD in machine learning applied to medical research.

I love nature. Just being surrounded by it makes me feel a sense of peace. Ironically, I would consider myself a very active person, I love keeping myself busy trying new things (learning a language, a new sport, reading books), volunteering  (teaching girls/kids about STEM-related subjects), or organizing events! In my free time I enjoy running, cycling, and especially dancing!

Area(s) of research:

Machine learning applied to medical research. Specifically, my research focuses on the application of graph machine learning to biomedical problems, with a special emphasis on drug repositioning, combinatorial therapeutics and hyperfoods prediction.

What I love about Computing:

I love that we can create solutions to any question we face, I feel like it has its own creativity to it! I love that my research has an impact in people’s lives and that it’s something that even I use in my day to day.

What being part of the Women in Computing Network means to me and why I joined:

I really enjoy being part of WiC. I’ve always been a ‘strong independent’ woman and have always been encouraged to pursue a technical career, so I love doing what I can to empower girls and women to feel the same way.

Who inspires me:

My grandma is an incredible example of strength for me. She was the exception to the norm in her time in a latin country, when after widowing at a young age she took over the family business and was running it fearlessly until her last days of life.

Something people might not know about me is:

Being latin I’m embarrassed to admit I only learned how to dance after I moved to London!