Dr Marta Pérez Alcántara

Dr Marta Pérez Alcántara

DPhil

Principal Scientist

Marta is a geneticist and computational biologist with expertise in functional genomics, neurodegeneration and the integration of genetic data with molecular and cellular phenotypes. She holds a DPhil in Genomic Medicine and Statistics from the University of Oxford, where her doctoral research focused on the role of islet development in type 2 diabetes susceptibility, using multi-omics analysis and CRISPR-based validation. She also holds an MSc in Quantitative Genetics and Genome Analysis from the University of Edinburgh and a five-year BSc in Biotechnology from Pablo de Olavide University.

Before joining Sequoia Genetics, Marta was a postdoctoral fellow at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, where she led analyses investigating the genetic determinants of microglial function in neurodegenerative diseases. Her work combined single-cell RNA sequencing, eQTL mapping and association analyses of cellular traits in hiPSC-derived microglia, integrating these findings with GWAS and polygenic risk scores for Alzheimer's disease and related neurodegenerative conditions. She also collaborated closely with wet-lab teams and industry partners at Open Targets to prioritise therapeutic targets based on genetic evidence.

At Sequoia Genetics, Marta works at the interface of the Translational Science and Data Science teams, supporting complex projects that use human genetic data to guide decision-making in drug discovery and development. Her cross-disciplinary expertise helps translate genetic evidence into actionable insights and therapeutic strategies.