Beatriz Molinuevo
Associate Professor
Co-principal investigator of the study
Graduated in Philosophy and Educational Sciences (Psychology Section, 1997) from the University of Salamanca; Master’s in Clinical, Legal, and Forensic Psychology (Complutense University of Madrid, 2000); and PhD in Psychiatry from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (2008). She has been an Associate Professor in the Medical Psychology Unit of the Faculty of Medicine at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) since 2022 and a researcher at the Institute of Neurosciences (UAB). She teaches in undergraduate programs in Medicine, Nursing, Physiotherapy, and Criminology and is co-director of the postgraduate program in Child Neuropsychology and Behavioral Neurology and a lecturer in the Master’s in Neurosciences. She coordinates the doctoral program in Psychiatry and is the director of the Medical Psychology Unit within the Department of Psychiatry and Legal Medicine. She has contributed to more than 20 publications in indexed journals, supervised three doctoral theses (with three more in progress), three master’s theses, and over 20 undergraduate final projects (in Medicine and Criminology). She has collaborated on the adaptation and validation of various psychological assessment instruments (parenting practices, psychopathy traits, and communication skills). She has led innovative teaching activities focused on communication skills training for medical students and has published a book on nonverbal communication in the doctor-patient relationship. She has participated as an invited speaker and served on the Scientific Committee and/or Organizing Committee for national conferences and seminars. Currently, she is a member of the Ibero-American Association for Research on Individual Differences (AIIDI) and the Scientific Society for the Study of Psychopathy. Her main research line focuses on studying cognitive, emotional, and temperamental precursors to behavioral problems and psychopathic traits in various child and adolescent populations (community, clinical, and forensic).
Roser Nadal
Full Profesor
Co-principal investigator of the study
Graduated (1988) and PhD (1992) in Psychology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona-UAB. She was a University Professor in the Psychobiology Unit of the same University between 1998 and 2021, and since 2021 she has been a University Professor. She is a researcher at the Institute of Neurosciences of this University, and a professor in its Master’s and Doctorate programs. She has carried out several research stays at Universities such as Wake-Forest in North Carolina (1996-97), California in San Francisco (2000), Colorado in Boulder (2010) and British Columbia in Canada ( 2013).
She has participated in more than 100 publications in international journals and directed 13 doctoral theses, plus 2 in progress. She has been a researcher at ICREA Acadèmia (Generalitat de Catalunya) in the Behavioral Sciences category (2015-2019) and Deputy Director of the Neuroscience Institute (2010-2016). She belonged to the Addictive Disorders Network (Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 2003-2017) and is currently a member of CIBERSAM (Centre de Recerca Biomédica en Xarxa en Salut Mental, Instituto de Salud Carlos III), of the TECSAM Network (Generalitat de Catalonia), of the Spanish Stress Research Network (Ministry of Science and Innovation) and of the Mixed Translational Neuroscience Unit INc-UAB/Taulí. She has participated in different international, national and regional projects, as IP or team member. She is currently the coordinator of the consolidated research group of the Generalitat de Catalunya (SGR) “Neurobiología de l’estrés y vulnerabilidad a la psicopatología”, and is the IP of 3 projects (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Fundació La Marató de TV3 and Fundación Alicia Koplowitz). She has co-organized different congresses or conferences, highlighting the Congress of the FENS (2012, “Public Awareness” Committee) and a B-Debate (Biocat and Fundació Obra Social La Caixa, 2016). In 2019, she was included in the “Las Top 100 Mujeres Líderes en España” ranking awarded by “Women and CIA” in the academic category.
In addition to teaching and research, she has been involved in science transfer and dissemination activities, as well as initiatives to promote gender equality and activism in mental health. Much of her career has been devoted to the field of Neurobiology of stress in preclinical models, being particularly interested in the role of early experiences and their relationship with vulnerability and resilience, as well as in the field of individual differences. . Recently, she has been redirected towards the study of biomarkers related to the vulnerability to develop trajectories of externalizing behavior in boys and girls, including the response to stress.
Rafael Torrubia
Associate Professor
Graduated in Philosophy and Letters (Psychology Mention) in 1977 and Doctor in Philosophy and Letters (Psychology section) in 1983, from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). Professor (Area of Psychiatry) of the Department of Psychiatry and Legal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, UAB, since 1987 and researcher at the Institute of Neurosciences at said University. He teaches undergraduate degrees in Medicine and Physiotherapy, he has been co-director of the Postgraduate Diploma in Neuropsychology and Neurology of Forensic Behavior and a teacher in the Master’s Degree in Neuroscience and in other master’s and postgraduate courses at the UAB. He also collaborates regularly in different official master’s degrees and those of other state universities. He is a member of the doctoral commission of the Department of Psychiatry and Legal Medicine, coordinator of the UAB Human Laboratory research group, member of the research group recognized by the Generalitat de Catalunya (SGR 2017_1586) “Animal and human models in mental disorders ”, Member of the Mixed Unit of Translational Neuroscience INc-UAB / Taulí and researcher of the State Thematic Network“ Nudging applied to the improvement of regulation: behavioral law and public policies ”. He has published 145 articles (102 indexed in the Web of Science), 20 national and 5 international book chapters. He has supervised 22 doctoral theses, 5 of which received an extraordinary doctorate award. He is the principal investigator in 8 projects in competitive calls and researcher in another 15 projects. His main lines of research are: 1) Aversive and appetitive neural systems and vulnerability to psychopathology; 2) Psychopathic and antisocial personalities; 3) Individual differences in conditioning and extinction of fear. In 2005 he was awarded the Pavlov Prize by the Catalan Society of Research and Therapy of Behavior. He has participated as a guest speaker and has been part of the Scientific Committee and / or the Organizing Committee in congresses and national and international conferences. He participated in the founding Conference of the International Society for the Study of Individual Differences (London, July 1983), was president of the Catalan Society of Research and Therapy of Behavior (September 1987 to June 1991). Currently, he is a member of said Society, of the Scientific Society for the Study of Psychopathy, of the European Society for the Study of Personality Disorders, of the Spanish Society for the Study of Personality Disorders and of the Acadèmia de Ciències Mèdiques de Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.
Albert Bonillo
Associate Professor
PhD in Psychology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) (2003) with the dissertation “Systematization of the Data Cleaning Process in Longitudinal Studies” and a Diploma in Design and Statistics in Health Sciences (2000). Professor at the UAB in the Methodology in Health Sciences area since 2000—and at the UOC since 2006—he is currently an Associate Professor specializing in Data Analysis.
He has supervised a dozen doctoral theses, ten master’s theses, and seven master’s research projects. He is the author of five books and has contributed a dozen chapters to collective works.
In terms of research, he has published around fifty scientific articles, all in indexed journals, primarily in the first or second quartile. His h-index is 15, with over 420 citations. He has eight teaching evaluation merits and three in research, and has taught at all academic levels in various universities.
A member of the Governing Board of the Center for Studies and Opinions, XII Legislature (2018–2020), he currently holds a position in the Department of Psychobiology and Methodology of Health Sciences (since October 1, 2023), after previously serving as Secretary of the same department. He is a member of the UAB Senate and actively participates in various scientific societies, such as the Catalan Society of Operational Statistics and the Catalan Society of Mathematics. He is also a member of the Institute of Catalan Studies.
He serves on the UAB’s Committee on Economy and Organization and the Committee on Campus, Sustainability, and Agenda 2030. Since 2019, he has been part of the Faculty Board and the Permanent Board of the Faculty of Psychology. Previously, he was head of the Health Sciences Methodology Unit (2012–2013) and coordinator of the third cycle in the Doctorate of Child and Adolescent Psychopathology at the UAB.
In addition to his academic work, he has engaged in science communication and book presentations. He is part of the consolidated research group “Animal and Human Models in Mental Disorders” (Ref. 2021SGR-00557), as well as the Laboratori Humà and the Institute of Neurosciences (INc-UAB). He is also a founding member of the UAB Virtual Reality Community and acts as a UAB evaluator for the Touch project (Cofund).
An expert in SPSS, he has extensive experience in data analysis techniques, research designs, and psychometrics. He is also proficient in Mplus, Stata, and REDCap, and has experience with 3D printing, Raspberry Pi, and Arduino. His expertise includes R, SAS, virtual reality (VR), and operating systems such as macOS and Linux. He is also an expert in data protection (DPO), from both legal and technological perspectives.
Silvia Fuentes
Associate Professor
Graduate in Psychology (2001) and PhD in Psychology (2010) in the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Master of Clinical and Health Psychology (2004) in the Universitat de Vic. After completing her pre-doctoral fellowship, she joined the Psychobiology Unit and the Animal Physiology Unit at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona as a research technician between 2006-2020. She has participated in different national and international research projects, and published 20 papers in indexed international journals. She has been Assistant Professor in Psychobiology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona between 2014-2020. She is currently Assistant Professor at the School of Psychology in the Universidad de Granada and a researcher associated to the Institut de Neurociències in the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Member of the Mixed Unit of Translational Neuroscience Institut de Neurociències UAB/Parc Taulí. She has supervised 7 Degree Final Projects and has participated in several activities of science dissemination and transfer to the productive sector. Her main field of interest has been the Neurobiology of stress and vulnerability to Psychopathology using animal models and more recently human populations. She has been especially focused in the study of the impact of early adversity, the study of sex differences and the evaluation of the cognitive and emotional consequences associated with stress.
Anastasya Ivanova
Postdoc
Doctor from the UAB, program in Psychiatry (2022). Doctoral thesis “Psychopathic traits in young clinical and forensic populations: assessment, and emotional and cognitive correlates” (2017-2022). AGAUR FI-DGR Fellow at the Department of Psychiatry and Legal Medicine (UAB; 2017-2021). International stay at the University of Cyprus (2021). Master in General Health Psychology (Universitat de Barcelona, 2015). Associate professor of the Medical Psychology Unit of the UAB Faculty of Medicine since 2023. Currently, she is a professor in the degrees of Medicine, Nursing, Physiotherapy, Criminology and Psychology (UAB, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, UOC). She has also been an associate professor at the University of Vic (2021-2023). She is currently directing 3 doctoral theses (UAB) and various final projects for official master’s degrees (UOC). She has participated in several projects related to conduct disorder, antinormative behavior, psychopathy traits and their correlates.
Eva Penelo
Full Profesor
Graduated (1997) and PhD (2009) in Psychology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). Postgraduate diploma in “Statistics in Health Sciences” (2006) and Master’s in “Research Methodology in Health Sciences” (2008) from the Laboratory of Applied Statistics and Modeling at the UAB. She has been a professor at the UAB since 1997, teaching courses in Psychometrics and Statistical and Psychometric Models, and supervising undergraduate theses in Psychology and master’s theses in official programs such as Research in Clinical and Health Psychology and General Health Psychology. She has co-supervised eight doctoral theses within the doctoral programs in Clinical and Health Psychology and in Health Psychology and Sports Psychology at the UAB. She has conducted research stays at the Parc Taulí Health Corporation (2006), the Medical University of Vienna (2010), and Leiden University (2012). She has contributed to more than 120 publications in indexed journals, mainly in the first and second quartiles. Her main research lines focus on test validation and growth curve modeling. In addition to her teaching and research activities, since 2011, she has been involved in university management tasks at both the Unit and Faculty levels within the Faculty of Psychology.
Anastasya Ivanova
Predoctoral fellow
Graduated in Psychology (2019) and has coursed a Master in Neurosciences (2020), both at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. In the past, he has worked on different pathologies in animal models, such as traumatic brain injuries or schizophrenia. He is currently completing his thesis within the Human Lab group’s Aggressive Behavior and Conduct Disorder project, studying the correlation between aggressive behaviours, their evolutionary trajectories and biomarkers of stress. He also participates in projects linked to the Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red (CIBERSAM) related to depression and suicide prevention at Park Hospital Taulí.
Ximena Mogollon
PhD student
Psychologist from the Manuela Beltrán University (Colombia-2015), with a postgraduate degree in legal and forensic psychology from the University of Santo Tomas (Colombia-2018), a diploma in forensic sciences from the University of Santo Tomas (Colombia-2018) and a master’s degree in forensic legal psychopathology and criminology from the International University of Catalonia (Spain-2023). Professional experience in different entities in Colombia such as; criminal responsibility program for adolescent offenders, restorative youth justice of the Ministry of Justice of Bogotá, restoration of rights for girls, boys and adolescents in the form of substitute homes NGO YMCA, rehabilitation of adolescents and young people with problems of consumption of psychoactive substances and intervention with minor victims of sexual abuse, neglect and abuse. In addition to carrying out Forensic expert examinations in the criminal and civil fields. Currently a doctoral student in psychiatry at the UAB.
Mariona Aparicio Muñoz
PhD student
Graduate in Psychology from the University of Barcelona (2017), with a postgraduate degree in Chronic Illness and Behavioral Disorders in Children and Adolescents from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (2020). Currently, she is a Clinical Psychology Resident at the Parc Taulí University Hospital in Sabadell, where she primarily focuses on clinical care for both pediatric and adult populations. In parallel, she is pursuing her doctoral thesis within the Aggressive Behaviour and Conduct Disorder project of the Laboratori Humà research group, studying profiles and developmental trajectories of emotional and behavioral symptoms. She has presented several posters at national and international conferences and participates in research projects related to the child and adolescent stage, as well as the perinatal stage. Additionally, she collaborates as a lecturer in the postgraduate program Specific Learning, Learning Difficulties, and Neurodevelopmental Disorders (co-directed by the TDAH Vallès Foundation and the University of Barcelona).
Sebastián Fernández
Predoctoral fellow
Clinical Psychologist. Master’s in Neuropsychiatry and psychology of childhood and adolescence; Master’s in Applied Clinical Research in Health Sciences; postgraduate degree in neuropsychology and child behavioral neurology. Collaboration in several research projects at the University of Conca (Ecuador) related to the promotion of autonomy, self-concept and self-regulation in the child and youth population. Collaborator with the ABCD project of the Department of Psychiatry and Legal Medicine (UAB).
David Quevedo
Predoctoral fellow
Psychologist graduated from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (2022) with a double specialization in child-adolescent and adult clinical fields. Interested in children and behavior, he has been trained in an alternative and/or augmentative communication therapy (AAC; PECS) and has focused on conduct problems. He completed the Master’s in Research Initiation in Mental Health (2023) with the CIBERSAM network, focusing on personality and temperament risk traits in his Master’s Thesis and current PhD. He is a beneficiary of the predoctoral program AGAUR-FI ajuts (2024 FI-1 00558) Joan Oró, funded by the Secretaria d’Universitats i Recerca del Departament de Recerca i Universitats de la Generalitat de Catalunya and the European Social Fund Plus. He collaborates with the Human Lab group on the ABCD project.