Hugo Madge León ‘16 attended the American School of Barcelona for five years, following which he completed his BSc in Molecular Biology at the University of Edinburgh. He is currently pursuing a MSc in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics at ETH Zürich.

“The summer before I went to university, I taught myself to code in Python. Many of my undergraduate classes were computer science-related; I had a passion for it. I found this niche (yet ever-growing) field that combined my academic passions for computer science and biology and built my skills in these areas. I am currently focusing on Computational Biology, particularly research into precision medicine and disease prediction. I plan to further my studies with a Ph.D. in Switzerland, continuing my research in precision medicine.”



Hugo credits many of the life lessons he experienced with ASB teachers for his chosen path in life today. “Mr. Llamazares, my IB Biology teacher, not only built and maintained my interest in the field that would end up defining my career, but he was also a close friend with whom I spent a lot of my time in my final years at ASB.” He also credits time with Mr. Bolivar (IB HL Math), Mr. Mackey (8th Grade homeroom), and Mr. Speier (10th-12th Grade History teacher) to have positively influenced his life.



“When I started at ASB, I felt instantly welcomed by a loving community with like-minded students. I felt free to be myself and appreciated the opportunities that ASB provided to my classmates and me. We were encouraged to do better, to set and achieve higher goals and expectations for ourselves, yet at the same time, there was this great sense of belonging.”



As an ASB student, Hugo competed on the Varsity Basketball team and participated in Model United Nations. He fondly remembers traveling internationally to compete against other international schools across Europe and the Mediterranean (ESC and AMAC) for basketball and attending MUN conferences in Lisbon, Milan, and The Hague. 

“The skills I learned during my time in MUN still stick with me today, particularly debating, researching, and organization.”



One word to describe ASB?
“Community.”

Once a Lynx, Always a Lynx!