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Experimentalists |
Theoreticians |
Jordi Soriano Fradera |
Jaume CasademuntEnric Alvarez-Lacalle |
Group Leader
Jordi Soriano Fradera
Jordi was born in Barcelona in 1970. He studied Physics at the University of Barcelona and graduated in 1996. After a brief period as editor of educational scientific books, he started his PhD in Physics in 1998 at the ECM department of the Faculty of Physics, working on experimental studies of interfacial instabilities in fluids. After completion of the doctorate in early 2003 he moved to Bayreuth, Germany, for a 2.5-year postdoc in biophysics in the group of Prof. Albrecht Ott. He studied the formation of the head-foot axis in the polyp Hydra, and combined physics with experiments in developmental biology and genetics. By mid 2005 he started a second, 3.5-year postdoc in neuroscience in the group of Prof. Elisha Moses at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, developing new experimental techniques to study connectivity in living neuronal networks. Since November 2008 he is a Ramon-y-Cajal researcher at the Department ECM of the University of Barcelona. When not totally busy in the lab, writing research proposals or contributing to the master in biophysics, Jordi likes to enjoy his passions: photography, biking and trekking. Academic CV (Spanish).
Jordi also participates in the Atomium Culture initiative to approach and divulgate scientific advances among the European society.
Research lines: Connectivity in neuronal networks. // Fabrication of engineered neuronal networks. // Development and dynamics of cortical circuits. //Influence of electric stimulations on neuronal cultures. // Integration of microfluidics platforms onto neuronal cultures. // Neuronal disorders.
PhD Students
Núria Amigó Grau
Núria was born in Reus, Tarragona, but lives in Barcelona since the beginning of her studies in Physics. She graduated in 2009 and completed a master in Biophysics in July 2010. In addition of working hard running experiments in the lab, she masters in piano and chelo.
Research lines: Activity fronts in 2D patterned neuronal cultures. // Cortical circuits.
Master Students
Sara Teller Amado
Sara is from Barcelona, where she studied Physics and graduated in 2009. She is developing her final project in the master in Biophysics.
Research lines: Propagation of information in 1D patterned neuronal cultures.
Patricia A. Martínez Barrios
Patricia is from Madrid, where she studied Biology and graduted in 2009. She came to Barcelona to continue her studies with a master in Neuroscience, developing her final project in our group.
Research lines: GFP and inmunostaining strategies for the description of connectivity in neuronal cultures.
Associate Members
Xavier Clotet Fons
Xavier was born in Manresa in 1987. He studied Physics at the University of Barcelona and graduated in 2009. He then started his PhD in Physics at the same university in the group of Prof. Jordi Ortín, working on experimental studies of interfacial fluid dynamics in disordered media. Xavier's research in fluid dynamics is combined with a master in Biophysics, developing his final project in our Neurophysics group.
Research lines: Experimental platforms for the growth of neurons in flow chambers. // Rough fluid interfaces in disordered Hele-Shaw cells.
Permanent Collaborators
Jaume Casademunt Viader
Jaume Casademunt finished his PhD at the University of Barcelona in 1988. After two postdocs in the USA, at the University of Pittsburgh (1989-91) with David Jasnow, and at the ‘Supercomputer Computations Research Institute’ at Florida State University (1991-93) with Jorge Viñals, in 1993 he became a professor at the University of Barcelona where he has led his own group of interdisciplinary research in areas of Condensed Matter Physics and more specifically in Nonlinear and Statistical Physics. He has advised 7 PhD thesis (4 more are in course) and 5 postdocs. He has published more than 80 articles in peer-reviewed journals (with over 1000 citations) including 1 in PNAS, 3 in Physics Reports, 14 in Physical Review Letters, and 34 in Physical Review.
The research background and expertise of J. C. includes nonequilibrium fluctuations (stochastic processes, front propagation, disordered systems), pattern formation (interfacial instabilities, Turing patterns, excitable systems), fluid dynamics (two-phase flows, microgravity) and biophysics. From 2002 to 2006 J.C. coordinated the European Network PHYNECS with 7 institutions and around 100 researchers in ‘Nonequilibrium Physics: from Complex Fluids to Biological Systems’ . While he continues research in fluid dynamics (turbulence in two-phase flows) and in pattern formation in general, his main research activity in recent years has focused on biophysics. Research in biophysics aims at the study of collective behavior in cells and tissues. This includes cooperative phenomena of molecular motors, active gels, cell mechanics, and tissue growth. More recently, expertise in excitable systems and network theory converge into the collaboration with the experimental group of Jordi Soriano on the study of connectivity and function in neuronal cultures.
Enric Álvarez Lacalle
Enric is from Barcelona, where he studied Physics at the University of Barcelona. He undertook his PhD at the department ECM of the Faculty of Physics, working in interfacial instabilities in fluids. After completion of his doctorate in 2003 he moved to the Weizmann Institute of Science, in Israel, for a 2-year postdoc in the group of Prof. Elisha Moses. He carried out theoretical and numerical studies on information coding in the literature, proving from a quite original physicist's point of view the uniqueness of human language and the excellence of masterpieces such as The Quixote and Moby Dick. This research was combined with neuroscience, and he developed complex theoretical and numeriical studies on signal propagation in one-dimensional neuronal cultures. Enric came back to Barcelona in 2006 as Juan de la Cierva researcher at the Applied Physics Department of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya to join the NoLin research group (Nonlinear Physics and Far from Equilibrium Systems). He became associate professor in the same department in 2010. Enric's theoretical interests are diverse and rich. from biophysical problems such as heart dynamics and neuroscience to fluid dynamics and statisitical physics. He combines his teaching and research with interpretation and theater.
Javier G. Orlandi
Javier studied physics at Universitat de Barcelona and graduated in 2008. In 2009 he finished a Master in Biophysics under the supervision of Prof. Jose M. Sancho where he studied stochastic processes in biological systems. In the same year he started his PhD under the supervision of Prof. Jaume Casademunt studying self-organization and information processing in biological systems.
Research lines: Relevance of metric and topological properties of complex networks in neuronal cultures. // Theoretical and computational modeling of neuronal activity in patterned cultures. // Cooperativity and self-organization in molecular motors.