Team:UPF Barcelona/Team

Team:UPF Barcelona - 2021.igem.org

Team members - ARIA

ARIA Team

Undergrad students

Biomedical Engineering and Human Biology degrees. Science and technology passionates.

Hi! I’m Auba, a 20-year-old biomedical engineering student member of UPF iGEM team 2021. I enjoy research related to synthetic biology, but also other topics in the biomedical engineering field. For instance, I’m currently working at Mediktor as an artificial intelligence trainer and doing an internship at IDIBAPS about synchrotron images. Apart from that, I am passionate about sports and music. Playing the violin is one of my favorite hobbies, and beach volley after a hard day in the lab is always a great plan!

Auba Fuster Palà

Team Leader, BioResearch
Human Practices
Web Development

Hello! I am Joel, a 20-years-old biomedical engineering undergrad, and I am passionate about engineering, science, and the fight for a better world. Motivated by those interests, since I was 14 I have been developing projects that intersect life and technology, from space robotics, bionics, or AI to computational sociology. This allowed me to do research and present my work internationally, as in the MIT or the Weizmann Institute of Science. I love music (playing the violin is one of my greatest delights), reading, writing, and exploring people's diversity through conversation, travel, and culture.

Joel Romero Hernández

Team Leader, Computational Research
Design, Human Practices
Web Development

Hi there!! My name is Teresa (although everyone calls me Tessa) and I am a 21-year-old Human Biology student. I have always been fascinated by understanding the functioning of cellular and metabolic pathways in the human body, as well as discovering the causes of their dysregulation and malfunction. My hobbies include reading crime novels in one sitting, traveling, and learning different languages. Although my hidden pleasure is having a coffee before taking a good nap. I am very excited to be part of the UPF iGEM team for 2021, so I am looking forward to meeting you soon and hope you enjoy our project!!

Teresa Castaño Cerdá

BioResearch, Design
Human Practices

Greetings! My name is Isaac Capallera, a 21-year-old student of Biomedical Engineering at UPF. I have been fascinated about the ability to describe complex processes and diseases using mathematical approaches since forever. It is my belief that computational tools can enhance our capability to understand biological systems and use them as an ally to society. On a more personal note, I enjoy reading and watching fantastic sagas, drinking cocoa-flavoured milk, playing golf in Summer and skiing in Winter!

Isaac Capallera Guirado

Computational Research
Human Practices

Hello! I'm Laura, another one of the biomedical engineering students who are very glad to be part of this year's UPF iGEM team! From all the scientific and engineering fields I've met so far, synbio, programming and mathematical modelling are definitely my top 3, and I am amazed by the unimaginable tools that can arise from combining them. As for my hobbies, I enjoy staying at home peacefully with my cat and doing some cooking as much as I enjoy going out for a walk in the countryside with friends. Also, I've always loved all kinds of sports, tennis being my best-loved, and my ultimate dream would be to test them all!

Laura Sánchez Ruiz

BioResearch, Human Practices
Web Development

Hey there! Here is Álvaro, a Biomedical Engineering undergraduate student. I am keen on sports, discovering new cultures, enriching myself from experiences in multi-member as well as personal projects and science in its widest spectrum. Digital transformation and its applications towards human health catch my attention. My dream? To surround myself with passionate people and bring our next generations an improved life.

Álvaro Martínez Marco

Computational Research
Human Practices

Hi! This is Laisa, a third-year Human Biology student. I’m passionate about everything revolving around molecular mechanisms, interaction between microorganisms and how our bodies regulate themselves. Apart from biology, my main interests in life are delicious food and coffee breaks with awesome people. I enjoy preparing different kinds of recipes for my family and friends, but also practicing “castells”, going on a hike or swimming in the ocean. I believe we are constantly constructing ourselves, and finding new hobbies and passions is key in life!

Laisa Bonin Rallo

BioResearch, Design
Human Practices

Hello there! My name is Francesc, I’m a Biomedical engineering undergraduate and I’m proudly part of the UPF iGEM 2021 team. Mathematical and computational modeling have both caught my eye and I have found in synthetic biology the perfect field to apply them. Traveling, reading, and playing tennis are my favorite activities. My perfect weekend? Going hiking around the Pyrenees, without any doubt!

Francesc Carandell Verdaguer

Computational Research
Human Practices

Hey! I am Lídia, currently studying Biomedical Engineering, and super excited to be part of the UPF iGEM team for 2021! I believe that many limitations of conventional medicine can be overcome through applied physics and computational tools. Regarding my hobbies, I am a space freak, I love watching movies and wandering around with my friends and family. Travelling around the world in 80 days has been my dream since forever!!! - well, maybe in a little more

Lídia Martínez Dalmau

BioResearch, Human Practices
Web Development

Hello! My name is Marc, and I’m a 20-year old undergraduate in Biomedical Engineering member of the UPF iGEM team for 2021! Fields such as synthetic biology as well as complex modelling, both mathematical and computational have fascinated me so far, and mixing both areas can provide great results! My hobbies include reading, playing american football and spending afternoons with my friends.

Marc Borràs Sánchez

Computational Research
Human Practices

Hi!! I'm Loreto and I am in my second year of Human Biology. What captivates me the most about biology is understanding how the body works and how we can heal and improve it. In my free time I love going out with my friends, doing sport and travelling. One of my biggest dreams is volunteering in Africa!! I'm so glad to be part of the 2021 iGEM as it allows me to be creative and as we say in our team, the sky's the limit!!

Loreto Coma Brovia

BioResearch, Design
Human Practices

Collaborators

External helpers

Audiovisual and social media passionates.

Hello there! I am Pablo Gimeno. I have studied Audiovisual Communication at UIC Barcelona, and I graduated last year. Since I was a kid I’ve always enjoyed watching movies, and now cinema is my passion. Nonetheless, at university I have discovered new interests such as art, anthropology, ethics and photography. My other big passion is music. I’ve been playing guitar for eight years and listening to lots of artists, musical trends and many genres spanning through decades during all my life. My favourite things to do are going to the cinema and attending live music events.

Pablo Gimeno Xipell

Presentation video production
Social media helper

Instructors

UPF researchers

Multidisciplinar professional careers. Science and technology passionates.

Hi, my name is Marc, I am a tenure track professor at Pompeu Fabra University. My laboratory is focused in leveraging new gene editing technologies for therapeutic purposes. Our two main lines of research are mammalian genome engineering and microbiome engineering.

Marc Güell Cargol

PI at Translational Synthetic
Biology Lab

Hello, I am Javier Macia, one of ARIA’s PIs. My professional activity has been diverse over the years, but always in the field of scientific research and development. Currently, I direct the laboratory of Synthetic Biology for Biomedical Applications, in the Biomedical Research Park of Barcelona. Our research focuses on the development of new technologies based on the ingenerization of microorganisms so that once reprogrammed they are able to perform multiple complex tasks. Within these lines of research we must highlight the BIOM project whose objective is the recovery of polluting waste through its transformation by various consortiums of microorganisms.

Javier Macia Santamaria

PI at Synthetic Biology for Biomedical
Applications Lab

Hi! My name is Javier, I am a 31 year-old researcher supervising the 2021 UPF iGEM team ARIA. After a PhD in France studying bacterial secretion I moved to the amazing field of synthetic biology, where I worked on bacterial computing by using CRISPRi-based synthetic circuits to program cell behavior (Schaerli lab, Univ. Lausanne). As a Marie Curie-funded researcher in the Güell lab (Univ. Pompeu Fabra) I am trying to engineer the human skin microbiome. Outside the lab I enjoy sports, reading and traveling.

Javier Santos Moreno

Postdoc researcher at Translational
Synthetic Biology Lab

Hi, my name is Nastassia and I am a last year PhD student in Marc Güells Lab. After graduating from Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich in Chemistry and Biochemistry, I focussed my Masters at Uppsala University almost exclusively on Biochemistry. Currently, I am engineering the human skin microbiome by equipping bacteria with enhanced capabilities to benefit human health, producing molecules for us acting as little machines.
In my free-time my biggest passion is to travel, observe and be in nature. My next big trip is hopefully to Antarctica :-)

Nastassia Knödlseder

PhD student at Translational
Synthetic Biology Lab

My name is Guillermo, I am current PhD student in Marc Güells lab. Graduated in Biotechnology by the University of Zaragoza and with a Master in Quantitative Biology by the University of Paris, I am passionate about synthetic biology. Currently, I am working on engineering the microbiome to develop biosensors suitable for the skin. When not in the lab I enjoy reading and collaborating with scientific outreach initiatives. For this reason, I am super happy to take part in iGEM 2021 with ARIA!

Guillermo Nevot Sánchez

PhD student at Translational
Synthetic Biology Lab

My name is Sira and I am a 26 year-old PhD student. I am a Human Biologist by training, and I did my Master’s in Computational Biomedical Engineering to fuse my learning in Biology with Engineering principles. I’ve always been willing to bring Synthetic Biology solutions to meet real market needs and this is why I am about to start a spin-off company from the University Pompeu Fabra to fight diseases in fish farming.
Ambition and perseverance are some of my core values. Driven by curiosity, passionate for travel, outdoors, adventure, sports lover, and guitar player.

Sira Mogas Díez

PhD student at Synthetic
Biology for Biomedical
Applications Lab