Current Team
Staff
Alexandre Perera LLuna
I hold a degree in Physics, a second degree in electrical engineering, and a PhD in physics by the University of Barcelona. I am currently leading the B2SLab. This lab belongs to the Institut de Recerca i Innovació en Salut (IRIS).
http://b2slab.upc.edu/team/alexandre-perera-lluna/
Flavio Palmieri
Dr. Palmieri’s research career has focused on various aspects of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, including obesity and type 2 diabetes. Given the rising global prevalence of these chronic conditions, his work aims to develop non-invasive and cost-effective diagnostic tools for early detection, facilitating better prevention and treatment strategies.
During his undergraduate studies, Dr. Palmieri specialized in electrocardiogram (ECG) signal processing to assess cardiovascular diseases, gaining expertise in cardiovascular risk stratification. His PhD in biomedical engineering at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) further deepened his expertise, as he investigated T-wave morphological changes in ECGs linked to renal impairments. This research resulted in multiple first-author publications, collaborative papers, and conference presentations. A research stay at Queen Mary University of London allowed him to expand his skills in genetic analysis and bioinformatics under the guidance of Prof. P. B. Munroe and Prof. J. Ramírez.
In 2021, Dr. Palmieri joined the Cardiac Genetic Diseases and Sudden Arrhythmic Death Unit at Hospital Clínic of Barcelona, contributing to a clinical study on Brugada syndrome. By applying statistical and machine learning techniques, he integrated genetic markers and ECG-derived biomarkers to enhance risk stratification for affected patients, leading to several peer-reviewed conference publications.
Following the completion of his PhD in 2022, he transitioned to the Metabolic Diseases of Paediatric Origin Unit at Sant Joan de Déu Research Institute, where he explored obesity pathophysiology, its generational transmission, and its link to insulin resistance and diabetes. During this period, he presented his findings at international conferences and supervised PhD and undergraduate students. Additionally, he gained teaching experience at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, lecturing in Computer Science, Industrial Control, and Healthcare Information Systems.
In 2023, Dr. Palmieri became an associate professor at the Valencian International University, where he supervised over ten master’s theses and played a key role in designing a new bachelor’s program in Biomedical Engineering, submitted for accreditation by ANECA.
In 2024, he was awarded a Juan de la Cierva postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Barcelona, working within the Biophysics Unit in collaboration with the Obesity Unit at Hospital Clínic of Barcelona. His current research employs multidisciplinary approaches, including epidemiology and data science, to examine the interplay of metabolic risk factors and obesogenic environments. This work has led to a first-author peer-reviewed article currently under review.
Dr. Palmieri’s future research aims to integrate genetic and epigenetic data to model the intergenerational transmission of obesity and metabolic syndrome. His goal is to develop computational models that predict the progression of these conditions over time, ultimately informing new prevention and treatment strategies with the potential to improve long-term health outcomes. www.linkedin.com/in/flavio-palmieri-phd
Jordi Fonollosa
Jordi Fonollosa (PhD in Electronic Engineering, 2009) is Associate Professor at the Department of Automatic Control (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya), under the Serra-Hunter program. Currently, I am the UPC coordinator for the Inter-University Master’s Program in Biomedical Engineering (UB+UPC).
http://b2slab.upc.edu/team/jordi-fonollosa/
Montserrat Vallverdú Ferrer
I hold a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Electrical Industrial Engineering and a PhD in Industrial Engineering with specialization in Biomedical Engineering from BarcelonaTech. I am currently belonging to Department of Automatic Control (BarcelonaTech) and as researcher at B2SLab group.
https://b2slab.upc.edu/team/montserrat-vallverdu-ferrer/
Pedro Gomis Román
Biomedical Engineer working with B2SLab at the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya-Barcelona Tech (UPC). Actually, I work as researcher at the Institut de Recerca i Innovació en Salut (IRIS) and as Associated Professor of Informatics and Biomedical Engineering at Automatic Control Department (ESAII) of UPC.
https://b2slab.upc.edu/team/pedro-gomis-roman/PhD Students
Aitor Moruno Cuenca
I am an industrial PhD candidate in Bioinformatics and a Senior Data Scientist R&D at Almirall S.A. I started my career as a Biostatistician in clinical trials, and currently my research at B2SLab is focused on developing new computational methods to quantitatively assess preclinical disease models using omics data. I completed a BSc Statistics, BA Economics and MSc Biostatistics & Bioinformatics.
http://b2slab.upc.edu/team/aitor-moruno-cuenca/
Blanca Alaejos Pardo
I I hold a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering and am currently a PhD student in Bioinformatics at the B2Slab, working in collaboration with Sant Joan de Déu Hospital.
http://b2slab.upc.edu/team/blanca-alaejos-pardo/,
Enrico Manzini
Hi! I’m Enrico, a PhD student at the B2SLab. I work with deep learning and Electronic Health Records (EHRs) to better understand and predict outcomes for chronic diseases like Type 2 Diabetes and COPD. I have a double master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from UNIPD (Italy) and Automatic Control & Robotics from UPC (Spain).
https://b2slab.upc.edu/team/enrico-manzini
Helena Rodríguez González
I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering and a Master’s in Neuroengineering and Rehabilitation. Currently, I am a PhD student in Biomedical Engineering, specializing in rare neurometabolic disorders through a collaborative research program between B2Slab and Sant Joan de Déu Hospital.
https://b2slab.upc.edu/team/helena-rodriguez-gonzalez/
Joana Gelabert Xirinachs
I hold a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering, as well as a degree in Philosophy. I am currently a PhD student in the Bioinformatics program, working with Electronic Health Records of patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes to analyze and predict the progression of this complex disease.
https://b2slab.upc.edu/team/joana-gelabert-xirinachs/
Joshua Llano
Hi! I’m Joshua, a PhD student working on epigenetics and machine learning to improve early classification of pediatric tumors. My research is part of a collaboration with Hospital Sant Joan de Déu in Barcelona for a project funded by La Marató de TV3. I have a Bachelor’s in Biomedical Engineering from UPC (2017) and a Master’s from UB-UPC (2018). Oh, and I also have two bikes!
https://b2slab.upc.edu/team/joshua-llano
Maria Barranco Altirriba
I have a background in biomedical engineering, having completed both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the field. Currently, I’m working on my PhD, focused on metabolomics—both designing algorithms to enhance data analysis and interpretation, and analyzing metabolomics data to gain deeper insights into diabetes mellitus and its complications.
http://b2slab.upc.edu/team/maria-barranco/
Pol Ezquerra Condeminas
I earned my degree in Biochemistry from the University of Barcelona (UB) and later completed a Master’s in Bioinformatics at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF). After that, I spent three years in the biotech industry working as a bioinformatician. Currently, I am a PhD candidate and bioinformatics scientist at CIBER, where my research focuses on uncovering the predictive potential of the blood transcriptome. My doctoral thesis is carried out in collaboration with CIBER, the Research Institute of the Hospital de Sant Pau (IR Sant Pau), and the B2SLab research group.
https://b2slab.upc.edu/team/pol-ezquerra-condeminasTechnical Staff
Andreas Cardona
I’m Andrea Cardona, a PhD candidate with a degree in Biological Systems Engineering and a Master’s in Biomedical Engineering from UPC. My expertise includes biomedical sensors, data science, and digital health.
https://b2slab.upc.edu/team/andreas-cardona/
Rafael León Carrasco
Hello! My name is Rafael León Carrasco. I have a Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering and a Master’s in Interdisciplinary & Innovative Engineering from the UPC. I am passionate about technology and data science, focusing on developing Machine Learning models for rare disease diagnosis and collaborating with hospitals for data analysis. I specialize in using graph models and neural networks for clinical data insights. I also have experience in programming and server management. With a strong engineering background, I enjoy facing complex challenges and quickly adapting to new technologies.
http://b2slab.upc.edu/team/rafael-leon-carrasco/Students working in a Master thesis or degree thesis at b2slab
Leonardo Andrea Marcon
Hi! I’m Leonardo. I hold a bachelor’s degree in Energy Engineering from Università degli Studi di Padova (UNIPD), and I’m currently finishing my Master’s degree in Interdisciplinary and Innovative Engineering at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). I’m also working on my Master’s thesis with B2S Lab, focusing on whether extreme temperature shifts have a greater impact on people with diabetes and/or cardiovascular diseases.
http://b2slab.upc.edu/team/leonardo-andrea-marcon/
Niclas Schippan
I hold a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Hamburg (UHH) and the HAW Hamburg from Germany. I’m currently finishing my master’s degree in “Interdisciplinary and Innovative Engineering” at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). For that I´m working on my master’s thesis at the B2S Lab, developing a predictive model for the onset of Type-2-Diabetes based on high blood sugar.
https://b2slab.upc.edu/team/niclas-schippan