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:

Pruneri, Valerio

Institut de Ciències Fotòniques (ICFO)

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Pruneri, Valerio
Research Professor at
Institut de Ciències Fotòniques (ICFO)
Engineering Sciences
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Research interests

The Optoelectronics group (OptoGroup) at the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) studies and develops new advanced materials, devices and systems for optical telecommunication, sensing and quantum industry. In particular, the main driving is to carry out research which bridges academia and industry, by developing fundamental ideas which will have an impact on commercial products.

Key words
Photonics, Optoelectronics, Optical materials, Optical engineering, Fibre Optics, Optical communication, Optical sensing, Quantum cryptography
Przulj, Natasa

Barcelona Supercomputing Center - Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS)

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Przulj, Natasa
Research Professor at
Barcelona Supercomputing Center - Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS)
Life & Medical Sciences
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Research interests

Molecular and clinical data integration for precision medicine: patient stratification, biomarker discovery, drug re-purposing, drug discovery, disease re-classification. Data analytics, modeling, fusion, dynamics, applied to clinical, molecular and biological data. Algorithms for uncovering molecular mechanisms of disease from systems-level “omics” data. Molecular networks: interactome evolution, dynamics, alignment, function prediction. Large-scale economic data analysis, fusion and modeling the dynamics of economic systems. Computational graph theory, algorithms, artificial inteligence, models.

Key words
computational biology and bioinformatics; molecular networks; methods for molecular and clinical data integration for precision medicine; data analytics, modeling, fusion, dynamics

ORCID
: orcid.org/0000-0002-1290-853X
Puigmartí Luis, Josep

Universitat de Barcelona (UB)

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Puigmartí Luis, Josep
Research Professor at
Universitat de Barcelona (UB)
Experimental Sciences & Mathematics
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Research interests

Self-assembly can be described as a dynamic process present in nature that has long been used for the evolution of living organisms, but is still scarcely understood by modern science. The main reason being that self-assembly is generally studied under equilibrium conditions. Despite the remarkable progress made in materials engineering, the quest for a technology to study and kinetically control self-assembled processes is still incomplete. Like in nature, only through kinetic controlled conditions we can achieve materials with a rationalized function and efficiency; a result that will open new horizons in nanotechnology. Therefore, the research activities of his group are centred on accomplishing an extraordinary kinetic control over self-assembly by controlling the fluid flow phenomena of reagents at the micro and nanoscale.

Key words
Microfluidic Technologies, Flow Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Supramolecular Chemistry, Surface Chemistry, Molecular Nanoscience, Materials Engineering, Functional Materials, Nanotechnology

ORCID
: 0000-0002-7510-9815

RESEARCHER ID
: A-5302-2015
Pujol Onofre, Aurora

Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge (IDIBELL)

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Pujol Onofre, Aurora
Research Professor at
Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge (IDIBELL)
Life & Medical Sciences
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Research interests

Our mission is to improve disease management of rare brain disorders through precision medicine. This spans the whole spectrum from genomic diagnosis to disease-modifying treatments. A first research line revolves around adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), made popular by the movie "Lorenzo's Oil". We are integrating multiomic approaches to gain insights into pathomechanisms for drug target and biomarker identification. These involve the control of redox, metabolic and mitochondrial homeostasis. Preclinical tests using mouse models for ALD yielded four licensed patents, four phase II/III clinical trials, and four Orphan Drug Designations. Currently, a phase II-III against placebo clinical trial is funded by the Spanish National Institutes of Health. A second research line applies clinical and functional genomics, including development of computational algorithms, for solving undiagnosed cases of brain rare disorders and expanding scientific knowledge by discovering novel genetic causes of brain malfunction.

Key words
Clinical Genomics, Integrative multiomics, Systems neuroscience, Rare disease, Leukodystrophies, Adrenoleukodystrophy, Disease Modeling

ORCID
: 0000-0002-9606-0600

RESEARCHER ID
: N-4990-2014
Puntes, Víctor F.

Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR)

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Puntes, Víctor F.
Research Professor at
Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR)
Experimental Sciences & Mathematics
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Research interests

Prof. Víctor Puntes works on the synthesis, characterisation and applications of engineered inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) in the fields of energy harvesting, environmetnal remediation and medicine. By controlling the size, structure and shape of the inorganic core, and manipulating the linking of organic molecules to the nanoparticle surface, the group aims to design nanoparticles that interact with a variety of systems (biological, medical, materials, etc.) providing controlled electromagnetic and molecular heterogenicities useful to manipulate materials and biological states at both, the molecular and the electron transport scales . This allows for the deliberate modification of these systems, or the use of NPs for manipulating and reporting states.

Key words
Nanotechnology, Nanoparticles, Synthesis, Conjugation, Nanotoxicology, Nanobiotechnology, Environmental remediation, Magnetic nanostructures, Nanoimmunology

ORCID
: 0000-0001-8996-9499

RESEARCHER ID
: F-8407-2013
Quer Villanueva, Josep

Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF)

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Quer Villanueva, Josep
Research Professor at
Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF)
Humanities
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Research interests

Research into natural language can no longer ignore sign languages as manifestations of the same innate human faculty realized in a different perceptual-articulatory modality. As a formal linguist, my research has focused on the analysis of a range of phenomena (negation, agreement, quantification, etc.) that hinge on the interaction between different grammar components (morphosyntax, semantics, prosody) both in spoken and sign languages. The goal is to better understand the division of labour across different grammar modules.

Key words
Formal linguistics, sign linguistics, language and cognition

ORCID
: 0000-0001-6466-2749

RESEARCHER ID
: H-7918-2015