Team

Dr. Lluís Tort is the leader of the AQUAB group and an internationally renowned specialist in fish stress and immunosuppressive status of fish under aquaculture conditions. He has worked on several fish species, mainly sea bream, sea bass and rainbow trout, but also other commercial and laboratory models.
Dr. Mariana Teles, is Associate Professor at the AQUAB group with an extensive background on fish ecotoxicology. Currently she analyzes the impact of emergent contaminants, including nanoplastics, on commercial fish and bivalve species, focusing in the development of new tools and biomarkers to asses the short- to long-term effect of xenobiotics on metabolic and immune pathways, through an integrated and multidisciplinary approach.
Dr. Joan Carles Balasch is Lecturer at the AQUAB group. His expertise focuses on evolutive and fish immunology, host-pathogen interactions, and the relationship between stress and immunity in fish. He has a long and widely recognized reputation on teaching and education of young researchers and he is the group specialist on analysis and graphic design applied to presentation of research results and outreach.
Pilar Tudela, with a degree in veterinary and a specialization in laboratory management, is the key person in the organization of the AQUAB laboratory, safety and security in research and maintenance of equipment.
Dr. Ali R. Khansari is a postdoctoral researcher focusing on fish immunity, fish vaccination and immuno.endocrine responses.
Dr. Irene Brandts is a postdoctoral researcher focusing on assessing the effects of contaminants in fish and their effects on stress, immune response and lipid metabolism, using both in vivo and in vitro invertebrate and fish models and genomic tools.
Dr. Manuel Blonç is a postdoctoral researcher that focused on influences of aquaculture recirculation systems on fish stress and welfare indicators.
MSc Nuria Ruiz, currently a Ph.D. candidate, analyzes the response of different stressors on fish mucosal-associated lymphoid tissues (MALTs), and potential non-invasive indicators, including the extraction of metabolites from water to assess the stress status of fish.
MSc Juan Ramos, currently a Ph.D. candidate in our group focused on husbandry laboratory protocols in the zebrafish model spcies and their consequences on health and welfare
MSc Hayam Djafar (Algeria), currently a Ph.D. candidate in our group working on the effects of nanoplastics on fish sperm quality
MSc Saira Naz (Pakistan), currently a Ph.D. candidate working on stress responses to combined crowding and nanoplastic contamination stressors
MSc Yuyao Liang (China), currently a Ph.D. candidate working on stress responses to combined temperature and nanoplastic contamination stressors
Celia Arcarons, our wet lab technician.