Luis Gerardo Peña Martínez Email & Phone Number

Ontario, Canada

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Identified issues, risks, and areas of opportunity for genetic services in Ontario to support strategic planning and decision-making regarding the program’s activities and deliverables, such as current state analysis, reports, measurement plan, and genetic testing directory.Implemented project management practices to supervise the development of a gene sorting tool that produced over 10 genetic testing panels and increased the processing efficiency and capacity by at least 60%.Established communication processes to enroll over 50 clinical and laboratory experts, patients and caregivers, and other stakeholders in the program, fostering strong relations and promoting active participation.Lead the development of a report on over 30,000 genetic testing applications resulting in an increased ability to determine topics and priorities for expert groups and produce quarterly reports to the Ministry of Health.Participated in the recruitment process as an interview panelist for new members of the program, delivered foundational training to onboard successful candidates, and provided ongoing mentorship to support the team.Coordinated over 30 meetings with clinical leads and subject matter experts, including the development of meeting materials, tracking of action items, overseeing communications, and ensuring timely follow-up.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Coordinated the day-to-day operations of the Out-of-Country (OOC) adjudication team, reducing the program’s response time from >14 days to 1 day.Acted as the internal liaison between the OOC program staff, the senior consultants, and upper management supporting decision-making and risk identification.Developed and supervised the implementation of the OOC Program standard operating procedures (SOPs) manual, setting the grounds for the Policies, Processes, and Procedures document to be developed as part of the quality improvement initiative.Delivered 30+ reports on the OOC data allowing the licencing unit to determine the eligibility of new test licensing applications, and the operations unit to assess the needs and areas of opportunity for testing in the province.Produced briefing notes and reports to inquiries received from the Minister’s Office and Freedom of Information.Managed a summer student to develop the applications tracking tool, currently in use. The tool automates data retrieval to support the OOC team and communicates efficiency metrics to upper management.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Identified gaps and opportunities for provincial genetic testing after analyzing over 90,000 test applications for the OOC Prior Approval Program allowing the capacity to standardize the adjudication of applications.Updated the data classification structure for the OOC tests database to increase efficiency in data retrieving and data analysis, as well as decrease the information requests processing times.Developed the structure for a provincial genomic tests directory to support medical professionals to identify their local options for genetic testing and redirect OOC genetic testing applications to be performed locally.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Analyzed germline and somatic microarray and sequencing data to link sequence variants to a disease using a variety of pipelines and software, such as IGV, Cytoscape, BaseSpace, Axiom, GATK, Bioconductor, and more.Performed sequencing raw reads quality assurance, alignment, and variant calling protocols using the SciNet HPC resources.Read and critically interpreted medical genetics scientific literature to draw translational clinical insights from sequence variants with implications in pharmacogenomics, risk factors, and disease.Completed multivariate regression models, PCA, as well as statistical and machine learning methods to explore data from HapMap, patients with prostate cancer, and DNA melting temperature prediction.

General Escobedo Area, Mexico

Supervised IB Biology research projects obtaining above world mean average final gradesDesigned and developed 6 Canvas LMS biology courses delivered to over 4,500 students annuallyTrained the Student Government Association (2018-2019) in event planning, fund raising, and database management

Monterrey Area, Mexico

Planned and delivered the project charter to establish a molecular biology laboratory as part of a multidisciplinary research and innovation center; the laboratory started operations with trial runs and training.Negotiated equipment and reagent supplies with the two major providers of biotechnology equipment. Negotiations included installation, training, and reagent samples for initial runs.Designed allele-specific ARMS-PCR primers and conditions for pilot tests for cancer clinical trials.

Monterrey Area, Mexico

Organized and planned logistics for 30+ corporate team-building retreats to encourage organization-wide innovation, teamwork, communication, and command-chainDesigned group activities for all corporate leadership staff including directors and managers

Monterrey Area, Mexico

Developed and standardized a multiplex PCR detection system for Mycoplasma sp. contamination in human cell culture Optimized diverse PCR protocols to enhance amplification and downstream analysisPresented the Mycoplasma detection system in congresses and research reviews for in-house seminars

Monterrey Area, Mexico

Developed and standardized Sanger sequencing tests for pharmacogenetic clinical trialsProduced patients’ reports of clinical findings in genetics and paternity testsCollaborated with continuous improvement and good laboratory practice development projects

M.H.Sc. Medical Genomics, Genome Sciences/Genomics

Bsc Genomic Biotechnology