My research career
During my +6 years of experience as a research scientist at the University of Copenhagen, I have developed novel scientific software, written reproducible open-source computational pipelines, and performed mathematical modelling in large genomic datasets. I worked in human population genetics and the ancient DNA field and established fruitful collaborations with research groups of diverse backgrounds across the globe. This period, helped me develop some powerful skills:
- Data scientist - refining my bioinformatics skills and scientific computing using Python, R, snakemake, nextflow, docker and conda
- Project management - leading and coordinating several research projects
- Communication skills - presenting research progress at +5 scientific conferences and producing manuscripts for high-impact journals
- Leadership - mentoring 2 master-level students during my PhD
- Event management - organising the logistics for +100 Scientists at a Danish conference, activities during the lab retreat for my research centre and a one-day PhD event for the GLOBE Institute
Research articles
I have presented my research progress at +5 scientific conferences and produced manuscripts for high-impact journals. Here you can find a summary of the papers I have contributed to:
- Faster Model-Based Estimation of Ancestry Proportions (Santander, Refoyo Martinez, and Meisner 2024): efficient software for inferring ancestry proportions
- Circumpolar Population Structure, Diversity and Recent Evolutionary History of the Bearded Seal in Relation to Past and Present Icescapes [mccarthy2025circumpolar]: identifying highly differentiated genomic regions, which can complement research on health, physiology, and behaviour—key areas for informing conservation strategies for this species
- Elevated Genetic Risk for Multiple Sclerosis Emerged in Steppe Pastoralist Population (Barrie et al. 2024): tracing disease-associated over thousands of years
- The selection landscape and genetic legacy of ancient Eurasians (Irving-Pease et al. 2024): disease-associated variants identification and trait predictions of ancient humans
- Population Genomics of Post-Glacial Western Eurasia (Allentoft, Sikora, Refoyo-Martı́nez, et al. 2024): demographic analyses and general population genetics analyses
- 100 ancient genomes show repeated population turnovers in Neolithic Denmark(Allentoft, Sikora, Fischer, et al. 2024): demographic movements and genetic diversity resulting from the Neolithic transition
- Vittrup Man–the Life-History of a Genetic Foreigner in Neolithic Denmark (Fischer et al. 2024): trait predictions of nordic ancient individuals
- How Robust Are Cross-Population Signatures of Polygenic Adaptation in Humans? (Refoyo-Martı́nez et al. 2021): GWAS robustness and portability to other ancestries
- Identifying Loci Under Positive Selection in Complex Population Histories (Refoyo-Martı́nez et al. 2019): graph-based identification of genomic variants
Early scientific career
Before joining the University of Copenhagen, I gained my first research experience through projects that sparked my curiosity and inspired me to become a scientist. These early experiences played a key role in shaping my passion for research and set me on the path toward a career in bioinformatics.
| 💼 Position | 📘 Topic | 🏛️ Institution | 📅 Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traineeship at the department of bioengineering science | Optimization of a functional read-out system of G protein-coupled receptors for free fatty acids | Vrije Universiteit Brussel | 2017 |
| Undergraduate researcher In the Cardiovascular and Social Epidemiology Research Group | Primary data collection of dietary health habits from different neighborhoods in Madrid and data analysis of its effects and correlation with social and economic factors | Universidad de Alcalá | 2016 |
| Junior Team Coordinator at Introductory Physics Life Sciences (IPLS) | Guidelines for IPLS researcher to better train professionals to work in pluridisciplinar research groups | Universidad de Alcalá | 2015 - 2017 |
References
Allentoft, Morten E, Martin Sikora, Anders Fischer, Karl-Göran Sjögren, Andrés Ingason, Ruairidh Macleod, Anders Rosengren, et al. 2024. “100 Ancient Genomes Show Repeated Population Turnovers in Neolithic Denmark.” Nature 625 (7994): 329–37.
Allentoft, Morten E, Martin Sikora, Alba Refoyo-Martı́nez, Evan K Irving-Pease, Anders Fischer, William Barrie, Andrés Ingason, et al. 2024. “Population Genomics of Post-Glacial Western Eurasia.” Nature 625 (7994): 301–11.
Barrie, William, Yaoling Yang, Evan K Irving-Pease, Kathrine E Attfield, Gabriele Scorrano, Lise Torp Jensen, Angelos P Armen, et al. 2024. “Elevated Genetic Risk for Multiple Sclerosis Emerged in Steppe Pastoralist Populations.” Nature 625 (7994): 321–28.
Fischer, Anders, Karl-Göran Sjögren, Theis Zetner Trolle Jensen, Marie Louise Jørkov, Per Lysdahl, Tharsika Vimala, Alba Refoyo-Martı́nez, et al. 2024. “Vittrup Man–the Life-History of a Genetic Foreigner in Neolithic Denmark.” Plos One 19 (2): e0297032.
Irving-Pease, Evan K, Alba Refoyo-Martı́nez, William Barrie, Andrés Ingason, Alice Pearson, Anders Fischer, Karl-Göran Sjögren, et al. 2024. “The Selection Landscape and Genetic Legacy of Ancient Eurasians.” Nature 625 (7994): 312–20.
Refoyo-Martı́nez, Alba, Rute R da Fonseca, Katrı́n Halldórsdóttir, Einar Árnason, Thomas Mailund, and Fernando Racimo. 2019. “Identifying Loci Under Positive Selection in Complex Population Histories.” Genome Research 29 (9): 1506–20.
Refoyo-Martı́nez, Alba, Siyang Liu, Anja Moltke Jørgensen, Xin Jin, Anders Albrechtsen, Alicia R Martin, and Fernando Racimo. 2021. “How Robust Are Cross-Population Signatures of Polygenic Adaptation in Humans?” Peer Community Journal 1.
Santander, Cindy G, Alba Refoyo Martinez, and Jonas Meisner. 2024. “Faster Model-Based Estimation of Ancestry Proportions.” Peer Community Journal 4.