The ICREAs

ICREA Research Professors form a vibrant community of scientists and researchers in all areas of knowledge that contribute to the advancement of humankind by exploring, interpreting and questioning. Have a look and learn about their amazing discoveries and findings here:

Aparicio, Conrado

Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)

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Aparicio, Conrado
Research Professor at
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Engineering Sciences
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Research interests

We are interested in bioinspired surfaces and interfaces for prevention of disease and promotion of tissue repair and regeneration. Using inspiration from nature’s molecules and structures, we design, modify and characterize bioinstructive materials tthat control supramolecular assembly, spatial-temporal bioactive responses and cellular colonization selectively to prevent infection and promote regeneration for dental, oral and orthopedic therapies. We further decipher mechanisms of bio/non-bio interactions and enable materials based on systematically mining and selecting recombinant and natural polymers and peptides. Tailoring physicochemical cues at bio interfaces we develop bioinstructive materials through harnessing extracellular matrix components and biological dynamic reciprocal interactions; including non-classical biomimetic processes of biomineralization for surfaces and scaffolds; and materials/biological agents to induce mucosal and hard tissue attachment.

Key words
biomaterials, dental materials, surface engineering, biomedical coatings, biomineralization, bone, tissue regeneration, biomimetics, molecular self-assembly

ORCID
: 0000-0003-2969-6067

RESEARCHER ID
: J-9903-2012
Apesteguia, Jose

Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF)

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Apesteguia, Jose
Research Professor at
Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF)
Social & Behavioural Sciences
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Research interests

In my research I study individual decision-making with an emphasis on its psychological foundations. I use theoretical tools as well as adopt an empirical approach to try to better understand individual decision-making, and to improve the predictive power of the decision-making models in economic environments.

Key words
Behavioral economics, Decision theory, Bounded rationality, Political Economy
Arbiol Cobos, Jordi

Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia (ICN2)

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Arbiol Cobos, Jordi
Research Professor at
Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia (ICN2)
Engineering Sciences
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Research interests

Explore by means of electron microscopy and related spectroscopies the structure-properties relationships in nanomaterials for physical applications (photonics/plasmonics/phononics/electronics/quantum) adding AI-based methodologies for advanced automated data analysis (deep and machine learning). Understand the behavior of nanomaterials for energy and environmental applications down to the atomic scale and create in-situ and correlative methodologies combining electron microscopy, synchrotron and AI.

Key words
Materials Science, Transmission Electron Microscopy, Nanoscopy, Nanotechnology, Electron Spectroscopy, energy and environmental science, quantum materials

ORCID
: 0000-0002-0695-1726

RESEARCHER ID
: B-6048-2008
Armiero, Marco

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)

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Armiero, Marco
Research Professor at
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)
Humanities
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Research interests

My research clusters around three overarching topics: environmental justice; migrations and the environment; and fascism and nature. While thematically diverse, my research is traversed by a fil rouge giving coherence to those themes. Methodologically, I avoid any dichotomy between nature and society. Thematically, from toxicity to fascism, from migration to mountain communities, my research focuses on processes of expropriations and imposition of expert management of the environment and the resistance of subaltern communities. This friction manifests across my research: for instance, in the tension between urban planners and Italian migrants’ urban moral ecologies in the US; in the conflicts between experts’ science and grassroots knowledge in struggles over contamination and risk prevention; or in fascist repression of subaltern practices both in rural and urban ecologies.

Key words
History, Environment, Science, Totalitarianism, Migration

ORCID
: 0000-0002-6063-9477
Arribas López, Joaquín Vicente

Parc de Salut Mar (PSMAR)
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Arribas López, Joaquín Vicente
Research Professor at
Parc de Salut Mar (PSMAR)
Life & Medical Sciences
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Research interests

As the leader of a multicenter research team, Dr. Arribas' research interests center on HER2+ cancers and senescence's role in cancer onset and metastasis, with a primary focus on breast cancer.

More specifically, the research activities conducted by his team are:
- Develop novel therapeutic strategies to treat breast and pancreatic cancer.
- Evaluate anticancer treatments (including immune redirection) in patient-derived cancer xenografts and identify resistance mechanisms to current therapies.
- Develop and characterize CAR-T cell-based therapies against tumor-specific antigens in preclinical models.
- Characterize cellular senescence's role in breast cancer progression and treatment.
Key words
breast cancer, HER2, immunotherapy, metalloproteases, senescence, metastasis

ORCID
: 0000-0002-0504-0664

RESEARCHER ID
: M-4482-2014
Asriyan, Vladimir

Centre de Recerca en Economia Internacional (CREI)

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Asriyan, Vladimir
Research Professor at
Centre de Recerca en Economia Internacional (CREI)
Social & Behavioural Sciences
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Research interests

My research is at the intersection of macroeconomics and finance, and it focuses on studying imperfections in financial markets and how they hinder economic activity. One strand of my work studies markets plagued with information asymmetries. The takeaway from this work is that information asymmetries are an important source of economic fragility, and the commonly discussed policies aimed at dealing with them may backfire instead of achieving the stated objectives. Further, my research provides a blueprint for thinking about the design of optimal interventions in markets. Another, more recent strand of my research focuses on the closely related question of understanding credit cycles. This work, for instance, has shown how credit cycles affect the efficiency of resource allocation in the economy, and why understanding the origins of credit cycles is important for the effective design of corrective policies.

Key words
macroeconomics, financial markets, crises, credit cycles

ORCID
: 0000-0001-8110-4933