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Lucas Alcantara


Position/Title: Manager, Research Centre Data
email: lucas.ma@uoguelph.ca
Phone:
Office: Ontario Dairy Research Centre & ANNU 124

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Lucas obtained his Bachelor’s in Biotechnology (2015) and a Master’s in Biosciences (2017) from the Federal University of Bahia, Brazil, and defended his Ph.D. in Animal Breeding and Genetics at the University of Guelph (2022).

As part of numerous research projects during his undergraduate studies, he acquired experience in genetic polymorphisms, molecular biology, fermentative processes, bioprospection of microorganisms, and the production and purification of industrial enzymes. He was an exchange student at the University of Toronto (2013), where he improved his skills in molecular biology and enzymology while studying the biological degradation of pine tree bark by different fungi species for bioethanol production.

As a master’s student, he decided to understand the role of different bacteria from the rumen in the degradation of plant cell-wall through bioinformatics analysis and to target species with the potential to produce enzymes of industrial interest. His passion for research and new challenges brought him to the Centre for Genetic Improvement of Livestock (CGIL) at the University of Guelph in 2018 to pursue a Ph.D. in Animal Breeding and Genetics under the advisement of Dr. Flavio Schenkel and Dr. Christine Baes, where he applied machine learning algorithms to improve breeding programs in the dairy industry.

Lucas currently works as Manager, Research Centre Data at UoG, where he is responsible for the design, development, and implementation of a modern data enterprise architecture for the Research Centres managed by the university through the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance. He also collaborates with CGIL providing data support for students and researchers.

Over the past years, he has specialized in research data integration supporting researchers on their data needs. His technical expertise extends from deploying and managing customized systems, to implementing automated data pipelines across multiple on-site and remote sources, to building web applications with functional user interfaces for easy and secure research data access.