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:

Menéndez, Pablo

Institut de Recerca contra la Leucèmia Josep Carreras (IJC)

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Menéndez, Pablo
Research Professor at
Institut de Recerca contra la Leucèmia Josep Carreras (IJC)
Life & Medical Sciences
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Research interests

1.-Understanding the pathogenesis and cellular origin of MLL-rearranged and MLL-germline Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in children. 2.-Leukemic cell-bone marrow environment interactions and targeted therapies in Acute Myeloid Leukemia and therapy resistance. 3.- Adoptive T-cell-based CAR immunotherapy for B-cell, T-cell ALL, AML and bone sarcomas. 4.-Deciphering the intrinsic determinants and signaling pathways underlying hematopoietic from human pluripotent stem cells.

Key words
acute leukemia, immunotherapy, CAR T cells, stem cells, iPSC and disease modelling, mesenchymal-stromal cells
Merkoçi, Arben

Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia (ICN2)
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Merkoçi, Arben
Research Professor at
Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia (ICN2)
Engineering Sciences
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Research interests
1. Development of Innovative nanocomposites with improved electronic/catalytic properties, spatially-oriented anchoring substrates and highly sensitive electro/colorimetric readouts are being developed for sensing applications.
2. Paper-based biosensors modified with laser patterned rGO to enable electrochemical sensing on paper substrates without altering the paper microfluidic properties, thanks to the stamping method.
3. Plug & play printing platforms for the ubiquitous fabrication of low-cost and environmental friendly nanomaterial biosensors with nanofunctional inks, using commercially available office printers.
4. Multilayered graphene and metal nanoparticle sensors printed on flexible polymers for the development of sensitive biosensors with impedimetric readout.
5. Disposable, wireless, low-cost electrochemical readout systems interfaced with smartphones for connecting to the IoT and an AI approach to the data analysis for environmental and healthcare applications.
Key words
Nanotechnology, Nanobiotechnology, Nanomaterials, Nanoparticles, Graphene, Nanobiosensors, Nanoimprinting, Nanoink-jet printing, Nanodiagnostics

ORCID
: 0000-0003-2486-8085

RESEARCHER ID
: ID: C-7211-2008
Meyerhans, Andreas

Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF)

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Meyerhans, Andreas
Research Professor at
Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF)
Life & Medical Sciences
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Research interests

Infections with non-cytopathic viruses usually have 2 different outcomes. They may be eliminated by host immune responses (acute infections) or they may persist lifelong (persistent infections). Medically important examples are the Hepatitis B virus (HBV), the Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) that in adults usually follow an acute (HBV), a persistent (HIV) or an either acute or persistent (HCV) infection course. My laboratory is interested (i) to understand the factors that regulate the decision between an acute versus a persistent infection course, (ii) to define the factors that control the dynamic balance of virus expansion and immune control in persistent infections, (iii) to design immunogens to inhibit virus infections, and (iv) to generate quantitative descriptions of the virus/immune system dynamics by mathematical modeling.

Key words
virology, evolution, antivirals, cellular immunology, translational research, biomedicine

ORCID
: 0000-0003-0620-5317

RESEARCHER ID
: D-3382-2014
Milán Kalbfleisch, Marco

Institut de Recerca Biomèdica (IRB Barcelona)

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Milán Kalbfleisch, Marco
Research Professor at
Institut de Recerca Biomèdica (IRB Barcelona)
Life & Medical Sciences
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Research interests

A balanced gene complement is crucial for proper cell function. Aneuploidy, the condition of having an imbalanced chromosome set, alters the stoichiometry of gene copy numbers and protein complexes and has dramatic consequences at the cellular and organismal levels. In humans, aneuploidy is associated with different pathological conditions including miscarriages, aging, cancer, microcephaly and mental retardation. Our lab uses Drosophila to molecularly characterize the impact of aneuploidy at the cellular, tissue-wide and organismal levels. We have established an epithelial model of Chromosomal instability (CIN), a feature of most human epithelial tumors, to unravel a leading role of aneuploidy in the emergence of tumor-like behaviors like tissue invasiveness, senescence and malignancy. We are also interested in addressing the impact of aneuploidy in other tissue types and cells, including stem cells.

Key words
Drosophila, aneuploidy, chromosomal instability, tumorigenesis,

ORCID
: 0000-0002-7111-6444
Miquel Pascual, Ramon

Institut de Física d'Altes Energies (IFAE)

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Miquel Pascual, Ramon
Research Professor at
Institut de Física d'Altes Energies (IFAE)
Experimental Sciences & Mathematics
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Research interests

I am an experimental particle physicist trying to understand the ultimate building blocks of the Universe and their interactions, through both experiments involving particle accelerators and astronomical observations. Recently, my work has been mostly devoted to planning instruments and performing observations to try to unveil the nature of the so-called "dark-energy" component of the Universe, which accounts for about 70% of the matter-energy of the Universe, counters the attractive effect of gravity on all other forms of matter and energy, and drives the current accelerated expansion of the Universe.

Key words
cosmology; particle physics

ORCID
: 0000-0002-6610-4836

RESEARCHER ID
: L-1038-2014
Miralda Escudé, Jordi

Universitat de Barcelona (UB)

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Miralda Escudé, Jordi
Research Professor at
Universitat de Barcelona (UB)
Experimental Sciences & Mathematics
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Research interests

I enjoy searching for physical explanations of what we observe in the Universe. My interests range over the formation of galaxies and their large-scale distribution, gravitational lensing and dark matter in the Universe, the intergalactic medium, and black holes in galactic nuclei. Over the last few years I have focused on the large-scale distribution of intergalactic gas probed by absorption spectra in quasar spectroscopic surveys. This is revealing crucial clues on both the initial conditions of the Universe and the formation of galaxies. At present I am also looking at various techniques to inquire on the nature of dark matter, among them the observation of extremely magnified high-redshift stars close to the critical curves of clusters of galaxies acting as gravitational lenses, the study of tidal streams of stars left by stellar systems orbiting the Milky Way galaxy, and several techniques to detect axion waves as a highly promising dark matter candidate.

Key words
CosmologyGalaxy formationIntergalactic mediumQuasars, galactic nucleiStellar dynamicsPlanet formation

ORCID
: 0000-0002-2316-8370