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:

Permanyer Ugartemendia, Iñaki

Centre d'Estudis Demogràfics (CED)

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Permanyer Ugartemendia, Iñaki
Research Professor at
Centre d'Estudis Demogràfics (CED)
Social & Behavioural Sciences
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Research interests

I will research the existence of new layers of health inequality that emerge because of the ageing process unfolding across most contemporary societies. I want to focus on the following research questions: what is the extent of inequality in the distribution of healthy and unhealthy lifespans across individuals? How do these inequalities vary across countries and socio-economic groups? Are the health improvements that generate populations that are more longevous also increasing the health gaps among those groups? Amid a swift ageing process with uncertain prospects for the health status of large population sectors, it is crucial to have good measures of population health that allow addressing the demographic challenges ahead. The results of this research can be extremely useful for the design of equitable pension schemes and retirement policies that are sensitive to the heterogeneous characteristics and needs of the underlying population, and for the public provision of medical care.

Key words
Population health dynamics; health inequality; ageing; mortality; gender; poverty.

ORCID
: 0000-0002-7051-5144

RESEARCHER ID
: M-3571-2015
Petrova, Maria

Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF)

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Petrova, Maria
Research Professor at
Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF)
Social & Behavioural Sciences
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Research interests

I am an applied microeconomist whose focus is information economics, political economy, and development. I seek to understand how information flows affect complex links between economic and political phenomena. Existing works traditionally underestimate the role of information provision in media for different aspects of development, and my research fills this gap. The main question that I address in my work is how information affects political, economic, and financial outcomes in different countries. My recent research is focused on the political economy of traditional and social media, and on causes of the growth and demise of populism and extremism.

Key words
political economy, media economics
Petrović, Mira

Institut Català de Recerca de l'Aigua (ICRA)

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Petrović, Mira
Research Professor at
Institut Català de Recerca de l'Aigua (ICRA)
Experimental Sciences & Mathematics
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Research interests

My main expertise is in the field of analytical environmental chemistry, specifically analysis of trace organic contaminants, such as pharmaceuticals, endocrine disrupting compounds and surfactants by advanced mass spectrometric techniques (liquid chromatography-tandem and hybrid MS) and the study of their fate and behaviour in the aquatic environment and during wastewater and drinking water treatment. Specific research lines are: (i) suspect screening, non-target analysis and fingerprinting of organic substances in wastewater and receiving environment, (ii) the study of biotic and abiotic transformation of emerging contaminants, identification of transformation products, elucidation of transformation pathways; (iii) the study of occurrence and distribution of emerging contaminants in aquatic environment and environmental risk assessment and (iv) sustainable wastewater management; application of innovative wastewater treatment technologies; innovative practices for reuse of reclaimed waters.

Key words
Analytical Chemistry; Environmental Chemsitry; Fate and behaviour of pollutants; Sustanable water management

ORCID
: 0000-0001-9734-1933

RESEARCHER ID
: L-1789-2014
Poater Teixidor, Jordi

Universitat de Barcelona (UB)

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

My research takes off from two main lines, which are interconnected and reinforce each other. First, the study of aromaticity in organic and metal systems, with tools derived from the electron-pair density, with the purpose of analyzing the electronic structure and molecular bonding in a wide range of molecular systems. The main focus now is the 3D aromaticity of boron clusters. I have also become an expert in the application of Kohn-Sham molecular orbital theory complemented with quantitative bond energy decomposition analyses to the analysis of non-covalent interactions. In particular, the study of DNA related systems has become my main research line. I have got closer to experiment by studying the selectivity in DNA replication mechanism taking into study the steric shape, hydrogen bonds, pi-stacking and solvent effects in natural and artificial DNA bases.

Key words
DNA replication, aromaticity, biomolecular recognition, Density Functional Theory, organic molecules, metal clusters

ORCID
: orcid.org/0000-0002-0814-5074

RESEARCHER ID
: B-5028-2009
Pol, Albert

Fundació de Recerca Clínic Barcelona-Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (FRCB-IDIBAPS)

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Pol, Albert
Research Professor at
Fundació de Recerca Clínic Barcelona-Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (FRCB-IDIBAPS)
Life & Medical Sciences
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Research interests

Lipids, such as cholesterol or fatty acids, are essential molecules for building bilayers and the way eukaryotic cells store nutrients. Lipids are 10% of a cell’s weight and 50% of the cell membranes. However, in excess, lipids can be toxic molecules. Indeed, lipotoxicity gives rise to, or aggravates, obesity, diabetes, atherosclerosis, cancer, and neurodegeneration. Statistics show that 100% of Europeans will develop at least one of these diseases during their lifetime. Our group strives to understand how cells solve this biological dilemma: store large amounts of nutrients while reducing lipotoxicity. Since 2001 we have studied the cell biology and physiology of lipid droplets (LDs); organelles designed for eukaryotic cells to achieve this key adaptative advantage. We study LDs from the time they are formed to the time they are consumed. We are also interested in the role of LDs in physio-pathological situations such as obesity, liver regeneration, cancer, and immunity.

Key words
lipid droplets, mitochondria, caveolin, liver, cholesterol, fatty acids.

ORCID
: 0000-0002-1750-1085

RESEARCHER ID
: M-1865-2014
Postigo, Antonio

Fundació de Recerca Clínic Barcelona-Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (FRCB-IDIBAPS)

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Postigo, Antonio
Research Professor at
Fundació de Recerca Clínic Barcelona-Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (FRCB-IDIBAPS)
Life & Medical Sciences
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Research interests

Our group studies the molecular mechanisms that regulate cell plasticity in health and disease with a particular focus on transcriptional regulation. Ongoing projects investigate gene regulation in inflammation, cancer initiation and progression, stem cell determination and differentiation, and tissue injury and regeneration. We use a wide range of technical approaches that include unique conditional transgenic mice, ex vivo culture and manipulation of normal and malignant primary cells, differentiation of human embryonic stem cells, and high-throughput techniques (e.g., RNAseq, scRNAseq, proteomics). As molecular models, we use the EMT transcription factors ZEB1 and ZEB2 which play key roles in the regulation of cell plasticity.

Key words
Gene Regulation / Cell Plasticity / Stem Cells and Differentiation / Cancer Initiation and Progression / Muscle biology & disease / EMT by ZEB1 & ZEB2 / Transcription

ORCID
: 0000-0003-4605-2634