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:

Schaal, Edouard

Centre de Recerca en Economia Internacional (CREI)

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

My main research interests are in macroeconomics, with a focus on business cycles, labor markets, information economics and economic geography. My research on business cycles has focused on studying the impact of various frictions, for instance search frictions in the labor market or informational frictions. A broad unifying theme in this latter strand has been to study of how imperfections in the way people form expectations contribute to economic fluctuations. Examples include the role of uncertainty, coordination frictions and herding. I am also interested in economic geography with a particular focus on networks (transport, social) and how they contribute to the spatial distribution of economic activity and inequalities.

Key words
Business cycles, labor market frictions, information, beliefs, uncertainty, geography, networks

ORCID
: 0000-0003-4191-6528

RESEARCHER ID
: Q-8025-2016
Sebé-Pedrós, Arnau

Centre de Regulació Genòmica (CRG)

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Sebé-Pedrós, Arnau
Research Professor at
Centre de Regulació Genòmica (CRG)
Life & Medical Sciences
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Research interests

My general research interests are related to two major biological questions. First, how genome sequence and its regulation translate into specific cellular phenotypes; and, second, how this genotype-phenotype link evolves. These interests include multiple specific topics at the crossroads of genomics, epigenetics, transcriptomics, ontogeny, and evolution. My ultimate goal is to advance our understanding of the evolutionary patterns and general principles explaining the genotype-(cellular)phenotype relationship through the eyes of genome regulation and at macro and micro-evolutionary timescales.

Key words
Single-cell genomics, Animal evolution, Chromatin biology, Comparative genomics, Gene regulatory networks, Phylogenetics

ORCID
: 0000-0002-9896-9746

RESEARCHER ID
: B-9268-2011
Seoane Suárez, Joan

Vall d'Hebron Institut d'Oncologia (VHIO)

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Seoane Suárez, Joan
Research Professor at
Vall d'Hebron Institut d'Oncologia (VHIO)
Life & Medical Sciences
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Research interests

Our main objective is to understand the molecular mechanisms involved in the initiation and progression of cancer. Specifically, our research is focused on the study of brain tumours, including glioma and brain metastasis. Both glioblastoma (the most aggressive form of glioma) and brain metastasis are dismal diseases with limited therapeutic options. The understanding of the molecular mechanisms that govern these types of cancer is required in order to design rational, specific and successful therapeutic approaches.

Key words
brain cancer, tumor microenvironment, cytokines, signaling, transcription

ORCID
: 0000-0002-6541-5974

RESEARCHER ID
: AAG-9173-2019
Serrano Pubul, Luis

Centre de Regulació Genòmica (CRG)

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Serrano Pubul, Luis
Research Professor at
Centre de Regulació Genòmica (CRG)
Life & Medical Sciences
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Research interests

The group of Luis Serrano is interested in the quantitative understanding and in the rational design of Biological Systems. To achieve this goal they combine theoretical and experimental approaches and develop appropriate software. Of particular interest for the group is the combination of protein design and network analysis to understand signal transduction and gene regulation. As a more ambitious project our group is now using Synthetic biology to engineer Mycoplasma pneumoniae as a living pill for human lung therapy. We also continue developing the software for protein design ModelX and FoldX, to engineer proteins with immunomodulatory activity. Finally we are exploting the role of codon usage and codon conservation in oncogenic proteins.

Key words
biological systems, protein design, network analysis, signal transduction, gene regulation, transcription factors

ORCID
: 0000-0002-5276-1392

RESEARCHER ID
: B-3355-2013
Serrano, M. Ángeles

Universitat de Barcelona (UB)

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Serrano, M. Ángeles
Research Professor at
Universitat de Barcelona (UB)
Experimental Sciences & Mathematics
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Research interests

Complex systems -e.g. the human brain, the Internet, molecular networks in the cell, international trade, and many more- are ubiquitous and around us. All of them, regardless of their origin, talk a common language that we are starting to understand. A major challenge for a better comprehension of the relation between their structure and function, and so for the prediction of their evolution and adaptation capabilities, is the characterization of their multiscale nature in space and time. I am using netwoks to investigate the role of space in real complex systems, producing maps in a hidden geometry where distances measure the likelihood of interactions. Our focus is also on the impact of time flow, and on multilayer networks in which different types of interactions between a diversity of elements coexist. Our applications cover a wide variety of real systems, from biological to economic and sociotechnological systems, that we characterize using massive data.

Key words
Physics of Complex Systems, Complex Networks, Network Geometry, Data Science

ORCID
: 0000-0001-8779-5931

RESEARCHER ID
: A-4198-2013
Shepherd, Joshua L.

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)

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Shepherd, Joshua L.
Research Professor at
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)
Humanities
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Research interests

Much of my research in the last five years has been devoted to my ERC Starting Grant. This work uses the methods of philosophy, and (where appropriate) cognitive science, and seeks to reinvigorate the conceptual foundations of agency, to map the phenomenology of agency onto the structure and function of action control capacities, and to understand how aspects of consciousness contribute to our capacities to select, initiate, and control different types of action.

An important part of this research involves engagement with the sciences of the mind (e.g., psychology, sport psychology, cognitive and motor neuroscience) in order to understand the psychological constitution of agency, and the ways that sophisticated behavior is controlled. Recent work along this line includes papers on the experience of acting (in The Journal of Philosophy), the relationship between (unconscious) perception and central coordinating agency (in Philosophical Studies), mind wandering and cognitive control (in Neuroscience of Consciousness), the nature of flow (in Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences), and relationships between propositional thought and sensorimotor processes in skilled action (in Philosophy and Phenomenological Research).

My work also explores the conceptual foundations of agency. In my book The Shape of Agency I offer novel, interlinked accounts of control, intentional action, and skill. In more recent work, I have addressed the place of knowledge in intentional action (‘Knowledge, practical knowledge, and intentional action’), and the nature of moral skill (‘Practical structure and moral skill’).

I am also interested in the moral significance of consciousness. My first book Consciousness and Moral Status develops an account of the moral value of phenomenal consciousness. In subsequent work, some of it in collaboration with bioethicists, I am exploring difficult moral issues surrounding the moral status of non-humans, and the ethics of research using cerebral organoids.

Key words
skilled action, consciousness, intelligent agency, moral status

ORCID
: 0000-0003-2008-649X