Rion Brattig Correia

I have a Ph.D. in the Complex Networks & Systems track of Informatics from the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing & Engineering at Indiana University (IN, USA). In my PhD I was advised by Prof. Luis M. Rocha. I am currently a post-doctoral researcher at Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, a life sciences institute in Oeiras, Portugal. My current work involves the application of complexity science methods, including data and network science, to genetic networks, aiming at uncovering genes responsible for human diseases. I also maintain an affiliation as a Visiting Scientist with Indiana University, where I assist Principal Investigators from three labs in all phases of an R01 NIH grant with the goal of developing MyAura, a system to help people with epilepsy better manage their condition. I have a Masters of Business Administration and a Bachelor in Management Information Systems from the Universidade Regional de Blumenau (FURB), in Brazil. I co-taught the PhD level class Introduction to Informatics at IU; and taught the undergraduate classes General Systems Theory, Management Information Systems, and Foundations in Information Systems at FURB as a substitute professor. At the time I also managed the Technology Development & Transfer Laboratory (LDTT) from the School of Systems and Computing at FURB where I assisted in the development of a city-wide solution of electronic health records. I have authored papers in top scientific journals, including PNAS and Nature Digital Medicine, in the field of Biomedical Complexity – Complex Networks and Systems; I also wrote papers and book chapters in Business Intelligence.

Interests

I am interested in improving human health, a multi-leveled complex adaptive system of interacting chemical components at the micro, and whole individuals at the macro level. My research is focused towards understanding this system, all the way from biochemical regulation and systems biology, to individual, social, and population level behaviors. I primarily use methods from complexity science and its sub-fields of data and network science; supported by inherently heterogeneous data, including Boolean networks, genomics, electronic health records, and social media.

keywords: #DigitalHealth, #DigitalMedicine, #HumanHealth, #ComplexSystems, #ComplexNetworks, #BioMedicalComplexity, #ComputationalIntelligence, #ComputationSocialScience #MachineLearning #ArtificialIntelligence.

Talks

Papers

Year	Reference
2023	P. Duarte, R.B. Correia, A. Novoa, M. Mallo [2023]. "Regulatory changes associated with the head to trunk developmental transition". Submitted.
2022	J. Sánchez-Valle, R.B. Correia, M. Camacho-Artacho, R. Lepore, M.M. Mattos, L.M. Rocha, A. Valencia [2022]. "Analysis of electronic health records from three distinct and large populations reveals high prevalence and biases in the co-administration of drugs known to interact". Submitted. medRxiv: 10.1101/2022.12.18.520961v1
2022	Costa, F.X., Correia, R.B., Rocha, L.M. (2023). The Distance Backbone of Directed Networks. In: Cherifi, H., Mantegna, R.N., Rocha, L.M., Cherifi, C., Micciche, S. (eds) Complex Networks and Their Applications XI. Complex Networks 2022. Studies in Computational Intelligence, vol 1078. Springer, Cham. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-21131-7_11. arXiv: 2209.01181
2022	R.B. Correia, J.M. Almeida, M. Wyrwoll, I. Julca, D. Sobral, C.S. Misra, L.G. Guilgur, H. Schuppe, N. Silva, P. Prudêncio, A. Nóvoa, A.S. Leocádio, J. Bom, M. Mallo, S. Kliesch, M. Mutwil, L.M. Rocha, F. Tüttelmann, J.D. Becker, P. Navarro-Costa [2022]. "An old transcriptional program in male germ cells uncovers new causes of human infertility". Submitted. bioRxiv: 10.1101/2022.03.02.482557v2.
2022	R.B. Correia, A. Barrat & L.M. Rocha [2023]. "Contact networks have small metric backbones that maintain community structure and are primary transmission subgraphs". PLoS Comput Biol, 19(2): e1010854. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010854. bioRxiv: 10.1101/2022.02.02.478784
2022	I.B. Wood, R.B. Correia, W.R. Miller & L.M. Rocha [2022]. "Small Cohort of Epilepsy Patients Showed Increased Activity on Facebook before Sudden Unexpected Death". Epilepsy & Behavior, 128:108580. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2022.108580. arXiv: 2201.07552
2021	A.B. Sanjay, R.B. Correia, L.M. Rocha, L.G. Apostolova [2021] "Transcriptomic profiling in mild cognitive impairment using peripheral blood gene co‐expression networks". Alzheimer's & Dementia, 17(Suppl. 5):e056702. doi: 10.1002/alz.056702
2021	T. Simas, R.B. Correia & L.M. Rocha [2021]. "The distance backbone of complex networks". Journal of Complex Networks, 9(6) cnab021. doi: 10.1093/comnet/cnab021. arXiv: 2103.04668
2021	A.J. Gates, R.B. Correia, X. Wang, & L.M. Rocha [2021]. "The effective graph reveals redundancy, canalization, and control pathways in biochemical regulation and signaling". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (PNAS), 118 (12) e2022598118. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2022598118 Our paper was featured on the March 23rd (2021) cover of PNAS.
2021	A. Min, W. Miller, L.M. Rocha, K. Börner, R.B. Correia & P.C. Shih [2021]. "Just In Time: Challenges and Opportunities of First Aid Care Information Sharing for Supporting Epileptic Seizure Response". Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact. 5, CSCW1, Article 113 (April 2021), 24 pages. doi: 10.1145/3449187
2020	R.B. Correia, I.B. Wood, J. Bollen & L.M. Rocha [2020]. "Mining social media data for biomedical signals and health-related behavior". Annual Review of Biomedical Data Science, 3(1), 433-458. doi: 10.1146/annurev-biodatasci-030320-040844. arXiv: 2001.10285
2020	R.B. Correia, et al [2020]. "Meeting Report: Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência-Institut Curie Young Scientists' Retreat 2019". Preprints. doi: 10.20944/preprints202001.0099.v1
2019	R.B. Correia [2019]. "Prediction of Drug Interaction and Adverse Reactions, with data from Electronic Health Records, Clinical Reporting, Scientific Literature, and Social Media, using Complexity Science Methods". PhD Thesis. Indiana University. School of Informatics, Computing & Engineering. doi: 10.5967/wbf0-fe75
2019	R.B. Correia, L.P. de Araújo Kohler, M.M. Mattos, L.M. Rocha [2019]. "City-wide Analysis of Electronic Health Records Reveals Gender and Age Biases in the Administration of Known Drug-Drug Interactions". npj Digital Medicine. 2: 74. doi: 10.1038/s41746-019-0141-x arXiv: 1803.03571
2018	R.B. Correia, A.J. Gates, X. Wang, L.M. Rocha [2018]. CANA: A python package for quantifying control and canalization in Boolean Networks. Frontiers in Physiology. 9: 1046. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2018.01046 arXiv:1803.04774
2016	R.B. Correia, L. Li, L.M. Rocha [2016]. "Monitoring potential drug interactions and reactions via network analysis of Instagram user timeliness". Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing. 21:492-503. This work was selected by Russ Altman in his AMIA Translational BioInformatics Year in Review 2016.
2015	Correia, Rion B., K. N. Chan, & L.M. Rocha [2015]. "Polarization in the US Congress." The 8th Annual Conference of the Comparative Agendas Project (CAP). Lisbon, Portugal, June 23-24, 2015.

see full CV (in portuguese) for the complete list of papers.

Conference Proceedings / Participation

Year	Conference	Location	Reference
2021	Complex Networks 2021	Madrid, Spain	Proceedings: A. Gates, R.B. Correia, X. Wang, and L.M. Rocha [2021]. "The effective graph: a weighted graph that captures nonlinear logical redundancy in biochemical systems". Complex Networks 2021. The 10th International Conference on Complex Networks and their Applications. Nov. 30-Dec. 2, 2021, Madrid, Spain. Proceedings: J. Sánchez-Valle, R.B. Correia, M. Camacho-Artacho, R. Lepore, M.M. Mattos, L.M. Rocha, and A. Valencia [2021]. "Multi population analysis of electronic health records reveal biases in the administration of known drug-drug interactions". Complex Networks 2021. The 10th International Conference on Complex Networks and their Applications. Nov. 30-Dec. 2, 2021, Madrid, Spain. Proceedings: R.B. Correia, P. Navarro-Costa, and L.M. Rocha [2021]. "The orthoBackbone: an evolutionarily-conserved backbone of genetic networks". Complex Networks 2021. The 10th International Conference on Complex Networks and their Applications. Nov. 30-Dec. 2, 2021, Madrid, Spain. Proceedings: T. Simas, R.B. Correia, and L.M. Rocha [2021]. "The distance backbone of complex networks". Complex Networks 2021. The 10th International Conference on Complex Networks and their Applications. Nov. 30-Dec. 2, 2021, Madrid, Spain.
2021	Conference on Complex Systems (CCS)	Lyon, France	Presentation: J. Sánchez-Valle, R.B. Correia, M. Camacho-Artacho, R. Lepore, M.M. Mattos, and L.M. Rocha [2021]. "Multi population analysis of electronic health records reveal biases in the administration of known drug-drug interactions". Conference on Complex Networks 2021. Oct 25-29, 2021, Lyon. Presentation: T. Simas, R.B. Correia, and L.M. Rocha [2021]. "The distance backbone of complex networks". Conference on Complex Networks 2021. Oct 25-29, 2021, Lyon. Presentation: A. Gates, R.B. Correia, X. Wang, and L.M. Rocha [2021]. "The effective graph: a weighted graph that captures nonlinear logical redundancy in biochemical systems". Conference on Complex Networks 2021. Oct 25-29, 2021, Lyon.
2021	XIII Semana Acadêmica Sistemas de Informação	Blumenau, Brazil (virtual)	Keynote presentation: R.B. Correia [2021] Um cientista de dados num instituto de pesquisa em biologia celular. XIII Semana Acadêmica do curso de Sistemas de Informação da Universidade Regional de Blumenau (FURB). 03-05 de maio. Blumenau, Brazil.
2020	Complex Networks 2020	Madrid, Spain (virtual)	Proceedings: R.B. Correia, P. Navarro-Costa, and L.M. Rocha [2020]. "Extraction of overlapping modules in networks via spectral methods and information theory". Complex Networks 2020. The 9th International Workshop on Complex Networks and Their Applications. Dec. 1-3, 2020, Madrid, Spain (Online). Proceedings: A. Gates, R.B. Correia, X. Wang, and L.M. Rocha [2020]. "The effective graph: a weighted graph that captures nonlinear logical redundancy in biochemical systems". Complex Networks 2020. The 9th International Workshop on Complex Networks and Their Applications. Dec. 1-3, 2020, Madrid, Spain (Online).
2019	Complex Networks 2019	Lisbon, Portugal	Participation: Local Committee Organizer
2019	Conference on Complex Systems (CCS)	Singapore	Presentation: A. Gates, R.B. Correia, X. Wang & L.M. Rocha [2019]. "EffectiveControl Pathways in The Canalizing Dynamics of Biochemical Regulation and Cortical Networks". Conference on Complex Networks 2019. Sep 30-Oct 04, 2019, Singapore. Presentation: R.B. Correia, I. Wood, X. Wang, S. Khare & L.M. Rocha [2019]. "Prediction of Drug Interactions and Adverse Reactions with data from Electronic Health Records, Clinical Reporting, Scientific Literature, and Social Media, using Complexity Science Methods". Conference on Complex Networks 2019. Sep 30-Oct 04, 2019, Singapore.
2019	NetSci 2019	Burlington, VT, USA	Presentation: A. Gates, X. Wang, R.B. Correia, L.M. Rocha [2019]. "The effective graph captures canalizing dynamics and control in Boolean network models of biochemical regulation". NetSci 2019: International School and Conference on Network Science. May 27-31, 2019, Burlington, VT, USA.
2019	WISH CHI 2019	Glasgow, U.K.	Poster (by Aehong Min): A. Min, W.R. Miller, L.M. Rocha, K. Borner, R.B. Correia, P.C. Shih [2019]. "Understanding Health Information Management of People with Epilepsy and Their Caregivers". Workshop on Interactive Systems in Health Care, The ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. May 4-9, 2019, Glasgow, U.K.
2018	Conference on Complex Systems (CCS)	Thessaloniki, Greece	Presentation: Towards understanding the multi-level complexity of human health: from drug interactions to human sexual behavior. Presentation: Redundancy in the Structure and Dynamics of Complex Networks.
2018	NetSci 2018	Paris, France	Lightning Talk (by Luis Rocha): Correia, R.B., Ratkiewicz, N., Barrat, A. and Rocha, L.M. [2018]. "The Metric Backbone of Contact Networks in Epidemic Spread Models". NetSci 2018, International School and Conference on Network Science. Paris, France, June 11-15, 2018. (Papers and materials presented)
2017	Complex Networks 2017	Lyon, France	Proceedings: Correia, R.B, Gates, A., Manicka, S., M. Marques-Pita, X. Wang, and L.M. Rocha [2017]. "The effective structure of complex networks: Canalization in the dynamics of complex networks drives dynamics, criticality and control". Complex Networks 2017. The 6th International Workshop on Complex Networks & Their Applications. Nov. 29-Dec. 01, 2017, Lyon, pp. 354-355
2017	Translational Bioinformatics in Precision Medicine (TBC)	Long Beach, California, USA	Presentation: City-wide analysis of Drug-Drug Interactions: towards understanding the multi-level complexity of human health.
2017	Conference on Complex Systems (CCS)	Cancun, México	Presentation: Public health monitoring of drug interactions, patient cohorts, and behavioral outcomes via network analysis using multi-source user timelines. Presentation: The effective structure of complex networks: Canalization in the dynamics of complex networks drives dynamics, criticality and control.
2017	European Meeting of the International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics (ISSX)	Cologne, Germany	Keynote presentation: Assessing DDI Relevance Using Large Databases: From Social Media to Published Literature.
2016	Conference on Complex Systems (CCS)	Amsterdam, The Netherlands	Presentation: Legislative polarization and social activism: a data-driven analysis of political communication. Presentation: Public health monitoring of drug interactions, patient cohorts, and behavioral outcomes via network analysis of Instagram and Twitter user timelines.
2016	Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing (PSB)	Hawaii, USA	Poster: City-level exploration of Drug Drug Interactions: the case of Blumenau, Brazil. Proceedings: R.B. Correia, L. Li, L.M. Rocha [2016]. "Monitoring potential drug interactions and reactions via network analysis of Instagram user timeliness". Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing. 21:492-503. This work was selected by Russ Altman in his AMIA Translational BioInformatics Year in Review 2016.
2015	The 8th Annual Conference of the Comparative Agendas Project (CAP)	Lisbon, Portugal	Proceedings: Correia, Rion B., K. N. Chan, & L.M. Rocha [2015]. "Polarization in the US Congress." The 8th Annual Conference of the Comparative Agendas Project (CAP). Lisbon, Portugal, June 23-24, 2015.
2015	International Conference on Computational Social Science	Helsinki, Finland	Poster: Detecting conflict in social unrest using Instagram Presentation: Discourse Polarization in the US Congress

see full CV (in portuguese) for the complete list of conference proceedings.

Funding

Duration	Country	Funder	Role	Title	Award
2023-2025	Portugal	Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia	Co-PI	Redundancy effects on spread and control in network dynamics: applications in computational biomedicine ID: PTDC/09122/2022; with PI Luis M. Rocha	249,526.87€

Duration

Country

Funder

Role

Title

Award

2023-2025

Portugal

Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia

Co-PI

Redundancy effects on spread and control in network dynamics: applications in computational biomedicine

ID: PTDC/09122/2022; with PI Luis M. Rocha

249,526.87€

News & Media

Year	Reference
2023	Expresso, March 3, 2023. (pt) O Esqueleto da Salvação.
2023	Gulbenkian Science. February 23, 2023. (en) A simpler way to track the spread of infectious diseases. (pt) E se pudéssemos rastrear as doenças infeciosas de forma mais eficaz?.
2022	National Geographic Portugal, April 7, 2022. As redes sociais podem prevenir a morte súbita por epilepsia?
2022	Binghamton University News. March 15, 2022. Study analyzes link between Facebook posts and epilepsy-related deaths.
2022	Gulbenkian Science/Agência Lusa. March 02, 2022. (en) Facebook analysis to prevent epilepsy-related deaths. (pt) Análise do Facebook permite prevenir mortes relacionadas com epilepsia. Replicated by Portuguese news outlets: Agência Lusa; Jornal de Notícias (printed newspaper); CNN Portugal (online); RTP Notícias (online); Health News (online); Saúde Mais (online); Oeiras digital (online); Jornal Médico (online); Radio Renascença (online); Porto Canal (online); Radio Regional (online); Noticias de Coimbra (online); NetFarma (online).
2021	Gulbenkian Science. November 02, 2021. (en) Finding the backbones of complex networks: from theory to computation. (pt) À procura dos pilares principais das redes complexas: da teoria à computação.
2021	FURB Notícias. April 12, 2021. Cientistas estudam sistemas para tratar o câncer de mama. In Portuguese.
2021	Gulbenkian Science/Agência Lusa. March 16, 2021. (en) Uncovering the “master switches” of biochemical networks can explain the effects of drugs in the destruction of cancer cells. (pt) A descoberta dos “interruptores principais” das redes bioquímicas permite explicar efeitos da medicação na destruição de células cancerígenas. Replicated by Portuguese news outlets: Público (online); SIC Notícias (online) RTP Notícias (online); Sábado (online); Destak (online); Jornal Económico - Sapo (online); Observador; Porto Canal - Sapo (Online); Saúde Mais tv (online); Health News: informação em saúde (online); Jornal Médico (online).
2019	G1 – Longevidade: Modo de Usar. October 03, 2019. Mulheres e idosos têm maior risco de interação medicamentosa. In Portuguese.
2019	News at IU Bloomington (press release). August 12, 2019. Women and elderly at higher risk of dangerous drug interactions.
2019	FURB Notícias & FURB TV. August 12, 2019. Artigo internacional revela danos com interação medicamentosa. In Portuguese. Watch the video
2019	IGC Science News (Facebook video). August 06, 2019. Interações medicamentosas
2019	Gulbenkian Science/Agência Lusa. August 06-08, 2019. Mulheres são 60% mais afetadas por interação de medicamentos. In Portuguese. Replicated by Portuguese news outlets: Diário de Viseu (printed newspaper); Alert (online); Delas (online); TSF (online); Diário de Notícias da Madeira (online); O Minho (online); Notícias ao Minuto; Observador (online); Sapo (online); SIC Notícias.
2016	IGC News. November 17, 2016. Challenges with Biology: IGC at the Science and Technology Week’ 2016.
2016	PR Newswire. October 3, 2016. Social Media is a Promising New Frontier for Insights Into Large-scale Medical and Treatment Patterns Thanks to Indiana University's School of Informatics and Computing. Watch the video
2016	SoIC News, January 22, 2016: "SoIC study finds Instagram is a source to uncover drug interactions and adverse reactions."

Open-code projects

Project	Description	github
CANAlization	This package implements a series of methods used to study control, canalization and redundancy in Boolean Networks.	CANA
Distance Closure	This package implements methods for the calculation of Distance Closure on Complex Networks.	distanceclosure
Variable Trigonometric Threshold	This package implements the Variable Trigonometric Threshold (VTT) linear classifier to be used in the scikit-learn package.	VTT

Editor/Reviewer

Year	Journal	Role	More information
2022-Current	Nature Scientific Reports	Reviewer
2022-Current	MDPI Mathematics	Reviewer
2021-Current	EPJ Data Science	Reviewer
2021-Current	BMC Bioinformatics	Reviewer
2021-Current	Frontiers in Public Health	Reviewer
2021-Current	Journal of Theoretical Biology	Reviewer
2020-Current	ACM Transactions on Computing for Healthcare	Reviewer
2019-Current	International Conference on Computational Social Science (IC2S2; Conference)	PC Member/Reviewer
2019-Current	Complex Networks (Conference)	PC Member/Reviewer
2018-Current	NetSci (Conference)	Reviewer
2015-Current	PLOS ONE	Reviewer	Thank you citation for 2015 and 2016.
2012-2013	Revista Dynamis (Academic Journal)	Editor	More information here.

Awards

Year	Award	Amount
2021	2nd place at the #InsideIGC Photo Competition at Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência. Two submissions among the chosen top 10. External jury: Akiko Iwasaki, Leslie Vosshall, Antônio Coutinho, Elisabete Caramelo, Goncalo Rocha, Teresa Firmino, & Laura Alvarez. See the awarded photo.	€ 50.00
2018	CNetS PhD Award. School of Informatics, Computing & Engineering. Indiana University, Indiana, USA. "In recognition of leadership and service to the welfare of the Center for Complex Networks and Systems Research and the School at large and of excellence in academic achievement"	US$ 500.00
2017	Grant Challenges: Precision Health Initiative – Research Assistant. Indiana University, Indiana, USA.	24 month stipend with covered tuitions
2016	Travel award. National Library of Medicine (NLM) & National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA.	US$ 1,250.00
2016	Travel award. Graduate and Professional Student Government, Indiana University, Indiana, USA.	US$ 500.00
2013	Science Without Borders Ph.D. Fellowship, Ministry of Education, Brazil.	48 months stipend with covered fees and tuitions

see full CV (in portuguese) for the complete list of awards.

Community & Outreach

Year	Title	Description
2019-Current	Member, IGC Post-Doctoral Committee	Served the more than 80 post-doctoral researchers at IGC. Managed a yearly budget of more than €10,000. Helped organize the Young Scientists Retreat 2019, a joint retreat for IGC and Institut Curie (Paris) post-doctoral researchers. Lobbied for the construction of a "Scientists House", a €2,7M investment by the city of Oeiras to house scientists.
2019-Current	Mentor, BRASA	Served as mentor for the Brazilian Student Association (BRASA) assisting students wanting to do their masters/doctoral studies abroad. Assisted them in shaping their CV & statements letters for program applications.
2019-Current	Job Shadowing - Scientist for a Day	Participated in the Job Shadowing - Scientist for a Day program at IGC. In this program high school seniors spend an entire day with a scientists, following his/her footsteps to better grasp what it means to do scientific research.
2019	Local Committee Member, Complex Networks	Helped organize the Complex Networks 2019 conference in Lisbon, Portugal.
2016	Science and Technology Week 2016	Interactive puzzles in an online platform for the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência in the 2016 Portuguese Science and Technology Week (in portuguese). See news release here.
2013-2015	Social Chair of GISA	Founding member and elected social chair of Graduate Informatics Student Association (GISA) in the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing & Engineering at Indiana University for two consecutive years.
2013-current	The Blackbox	A game/tool in teaching Informatics/Complexity Science for undergraduates. Adapted to the web from Luis Rocha's website.