Staff & Faculty Directory

Neuroscientist Gonzalo Otazu, Ph.D. is an associate professor, leverages his electrical engineering expertise to study the computational problems solved by the animal’s brain in order for the animal to survive in its natural environment. This includes how the brain identifies and processes new odors and how this process is affected in neurodevelopmental disorders like autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Using the latest insights in neuroscience, Otazu develops novel machine learning algorithms and applies them to biomedical problems. In addition to lecturing at NYITCOM, Otazu currently mentors undergraduate and medical student research assistants, who often earn co-authorship on conference presentations. He will also partner with the Center for Biomedical Innovation to further his computational biology projects.

Otazu received his doctoral degree in electrical engineering from Tohoku University in Japan and completed his postdoctoral fellowship at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where he participated in research to understand how the mammalian brain distinguishes nearly identical scents, such as those of oranges and tangerines. He also holds an undergraduate electrical engineering degree from Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru in Peru.