Dr Antoni Torres is full profesor of Medicine (Pulmonology) at University of Barcelona. He has been Director and Chief of Pulmonology Department, and Director of the Respiratory Intensive Care Unit at Hospital Clinic of Barcelona. He leads a translational research group focussed on respiratory  infections, ARDS and critical care. His current H-Index is 95. He received several research awards: Edward Shanoff (Harvard University), Josep Trueta, Lilly award, COMB, Icrea Academia, and Murray Korndfel (ACCP).

Antonio Zorzano is  Full Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Barcelona, Group Leader at the IRB Barcelona, and Programme Head at CIBERDEM. Professor Zorzano received his PhD in Biology at the University of Barcelona, and did postdoctoral studies at the Hospital Ramon y Cajal, (Madrid), and at Boston University Medical Center. He has supervised  40 Ph.D. theses, is co-inventor of 21 patents, and has published over 300 scientific articles (more than 31,000 citations, h-index of 82, Google Scholar). He has been founder of  biotechnological companies in Spain and in UK.

Professor Zorzano’s research focuses on the regulation of metabolism and its interplay with insulin resistance, obesity and type 2 diabetes. A global goal is to identify and validate molecular targets that permit the prevention or treatment of metabolic diseases  by using cell-based systems, genetically modified mice, and translational approaches.

My scientific career is fully associated with the direction of my research group, which I started in the mid 90’s, after my previous training in Barcelona, Paris and New York. Since then I have developed an upward research career as PI, financed through competitive funds obtained from public agencies, foundations and private companies. We have participated in numerous European projects and led regional, national and international research networks on the pathophysiological mechanisms of obesity, diabetes and lipodystrophy, including research on the metabolic alterations in HIV patients. I am full professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at UB since 2010. I act as advisor of multiple international research agencies and institutions. I have been director of the Institute of Biomedicine of the UB for 8 years, where I currently hold the position of scientific director. I have been member of steering committees of the CIBERobn and Sociedad Española de Estudio de la Obesidad.

Pere Roca-Cusachs obtained his PhD in cellular biophysics in 2007 from the Medical School at the University of Barcelona. He then worked in the lab of Prof. Michael Sheetz (Columbia University) as a post-doctoral researcher until 2011. He is currently a Serra-Hunter Associate Professor at the University of Barcelona, and Group Leader at the Institute for bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC). His group studies the physical and molecular mechanisms by which cells detect and respond to mechanical signals.  He currently coordinates an EU-funded Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) project dedicated to understanding the mechanical control of biological function. He is a recipient of the EMBO Young Investigator award, the 2017 City of Barcelona award to the life sciences, and the 2019 Young Investigator Award of the European Biophysical Societies Association (EBSA). He is also an EMBO member.