Biographical Information

I was born and raised in Havana City, Cuba. Soon after I completed my third year in college, at the University of Havana, I went to reside in Mexico City for a short while. During this time, I traveled extensively through the south and west of Mexico, and became absolutely fascinated with the indigenous culture and the amazing ruins I visited along the way. Since then, I have gone back a couple of times to explore various areas within "The Mayan Route", including a secluded community (the Lacandon Indians) who live in the rain forest, not far from the Guatemalan border along the Usumacinta river.

In 1990, I moved to California to continue my college education and to be reunited with my mother. After I finished my undergraduate work in northern California at San Jose State University, I moved to Baltimore, Maryland for about a year, to work at one of the research facilities of the NIH. There I became more familiar with the research environment and decided to apply for graduate school.

In 1995, I started working towards my PhD at the Cognitive Science Department in the University of California, San Diego. I completed this degree in 2001 and went to do postdoctoral work to the Andersen Laboratory at CALTECH.

I have recently completed a series of experiments designed to test several assumptions and predictions from my theoretical work. Papers from several years worth of work are currently in the make. The results are exciting.