Peña Diaz obtained his MD and PhD in biochemistry from the University of Mexico. He pursued postdoctoral research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1964. He has been professor at the Medical School, Biology Institute and Investigator and director of the Instituto de Fisiología Celular and the Marine Sciences Institute at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. He was honoured by UNESCO with the Carlos Finlay Prize for Microbiology in 2003. He was president of the Mexican Academy of Sciences, the Mexican Biochemical Society and the Panamerican Association for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. His work is focused on the transport and effects of ions, mainly on different species of yeasts. His work has produced 100 publications in specialized journals, and has received more than 2000 citations.