Our PhD students

I am an economist from the University of Chile and holds a Master’s degree in Social Policy, Work, and Welfare from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. My research is grounded in feminist economics, with a strong focus on the care economy, time use, and social protection systems. I was part of the first studies in Chile to propose indicators of time poverty and inequality, contributing to a broader understanding of unpaid work and its socioeconomic implications.

My work has also explored labor conditions and precarious employment, engaging closely with social organizations linked to labor movements, such as Fundación SOL and Cooperativa Desbordada in Chile. I have extensively studied social security systems, particularly pension systems, examining their distributive impacts and long-term sustainability.

Currently,I am a PhD researcher within the TOUCH programme, developing the project “Precarious Employment Trajectories, Psychosocial Risks, and Mental Well-being” under the supervision of Dr. Mireia Bolíbar Planas and Dr. Albert Navarro Gine.

I hold a BSc in Sociology (University of Buenos Aires, Argentina), a MSc in Social Demography (National University of Lujan, Argentina) and am currently part of the European Doctoral School of Demography cohort 2024-2025 (Institut national d’études démographiques, France). I also teach an R Workshop for Demographic Analysis in the Master’s program. I worked on well-being and inequality studies, population projections, and statistical visualization using R and Shiny in Argentina’s National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC). I am also part of a research group on fertility decline and its links to education and regional differences.

My project focuses on the mental health status of people living with chronic diseases and disabilities. Besides the transition among health states, we will focus on how social determinants, living arrangements and care networks contribute to the well-being of dependent individuals.

I obtained my Bachelor’s degree in International Studies and my Master’s degree in Sociology and Social Research at Trento University. During my Master’s, I participated in an Erasmus+ program at the University of Granada, focusing on Social Problems. I later conducted my thesis research at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) within the GRAFO research group. I also completed a post-graduate research internship and began coordinating Perifèria, the training journal of Social Anthropology at UAB. My Master’s dissertation focused on the social identification of transnational individuals, using the case study of the migration corridor connecting Dâmbovița and its ethnic enclave in Castellón de la Plana. Finally, I worked for a year as a research fellow at the University of Trento within the PRIN 2022 Project: Networks: Decomposition, Clustering, and Community Detection. During my PhD project “Migrant’s Mental Healthcare and Multilevel Personal Networks”, I will focus on the mental health of migrants and the impact of their social networks on their well-being.

I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Buenos Aires, an MSc in Data Mining from the University of Buenos Aires, and an MSc in Cognitive Science from the École Normale Supérieure (Paris). I have completed research stays at the University of Barcelona, INRIA (Paris) and Aarhus University (Denmark), focusing on the interplay between neuroscience, emotions and AI. I have also gained teaching experience in various academic institutions and international organisations, including the Neuromatch Academy.

Within the TOUCH programme, I will develop a project on mathematical modelling of disease trajectories across modalities, aiming to develop novel predictive approaches that integrate insights from multiple data sources to better understand complex brain and mental health dynamics.

I am a mental health practitioner and early-career researcher with over five years of experience. I hold an MSc in Integrated Clinical and Community Mental Health and a BSc in Psychiatric Nursing from Mekelle University in Ethiopia. I have worked with national public institutions and international NGOs, including research roles at the Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation in Malawi and the Armauer Hansen Research Institute. Previously, I served as a Lecturer in Psychiatry at Mekelle University, where I was actively involved in teaching, mentoring, and research.

Within the TOUCH Doctoral Program, I will pursue a PhD in Psychiatry at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. My project, titled “Seeking Clinical and Functional Recovery in Depression: Outcome Trajectories of New Therapeutic Approaches” (ReDeNTA), is hosted at the Parc Taulí Research and Innovation Institute Foundation (I3PT) and aims to explore innovative strategies for enhancing recovery in individuals suffering from depression.

I hold a BSc and MSc in Psychology from India, with a focus on humanistic and positive psychology. My research explores flourishing, intergenerational friendships, and healthy aging across the lifespan, with a particular interest in old adulthood. My MSc dissertation examined how societal stereotypes impact emerging adult women’s transformation and how self-compassion fosters their growth. I co-designed and conducted Eugeria, a research study integrating Martin Seligman’s concept of flourishing to identify factors that support well-being in later life.

I am working at Fundació Salut i Envelliment UAB as a MSCA COFUND TOUCH doctoral researcher, on the project “Enhancing Elderly Mental Health through Reminiscence Therapy and Robotic Companionship” under Dr. Sara Domenech and Dr. Ramon Miralles. My thesis will explore the impact of psychosocial interventions and intergenerational friendships on emotional well-being and quality of life among individuals aged 45 and above.

I am a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist who have research experience in the field of mental health. I obtained my Bachelor’s in Clinical Psychology at Tufts University (USA) where I contributed to two different research labs (Emotion Brain and Behavior Lab) and Tufts Applied Cognition Lab. In my final year I did a clinical research internship at Massachusetts General Hospital in the Center for Addiction Medicine. I received my Master’s degree in Clinical and Developmental Psychopathology from Vrije Universiteit (Netherlands) where I investigated how novel treatments (such as Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy) can be used to treat anxiety disorders.

At UAB I will focus on involving mental health users in the research process in order to tailor investigation to their needs, with a particular focus on using mental health users’ input to develop better assessment methods and understand the nature of their experiences.

I hold a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Psychology, with my master’s thesis focusing on positive psychology and well-being. During my studies, I also explored how virtual reality can enhance relaxation in natural environments.

I am now pursuing a PhD in Computer Science at the Computer Vision Center in collaboration with the Psychology Department. My research investigates the intersection of artificial intelligence, human cognition, and predictive processing. I aim to develop innovative evaluation methods and prototype models to deepen our understanding of cognitive processes. Through this interdisciplinary work, I strive to bridge technology and human science for meaningful scientific advancements.

I graduated in Molecular Biology and Genetics from İzmir Institute of Technology in Turkey. After a two-month Erasmus mobility at VHIR, I completed a Masters in Translational Biomedical Research at UAB-VHIR. Throughout my academic career, I have gained experience in various research areas, including CRISPR/Cas9 technology, neurodegenerative diseases and advanced histological techniques.

During my master’s, I worked on Parkinson’s disease, and now, through the TOUCH programme, I am expanding into mental health. My PhD focuses on the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of Mixed Alzheimer’s disease. By analysing a well-characterized clinical cohort using biofluid biomarkers and neuroimaging techniques, I aim to improve diagnostic and prognostic accuracy.

I am a PhD student in the Translational Mechanisms of Fear Memory lab under the mentorship of Prof. Raül Andero. I hold a BSc in Genomics and an MSc in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of Bologna, where I gained experience in bioinformatics, computational biology, molecular biology, and wet lab techniques. Before my PhD, I worked as a lab technician specialising in the analysis of calcium imaging data.

The main focus of my research will explore fear conditioning and extinction by integrating behavioural studies, calcium imaging, and computational analysis. Using Tac2 mice and translating findings to Nk3 receptors in humans, I aim to uncover the neural circuits underlying fear regulation, leveraging machine learning for advanced data interpretation.

I completed my undergraduate studies double majoring in Biology and Psychology at Case Western Reserve University in the US. Then, I started pursuing clinical psychology and earned my master’s degree at Columbia University. I have also been working in multiple relevant fields, aiming for interdisciplinary research, which includes public health/epidemiology, forensic psychology, sociology, and machine learning/artificial intelligence. My major research interest is psychosis, including early detection and prevention implementation with novel methods.

The TOUCH project I will be working on resonates with my research passion, as I will be researching the topic of detecting early psychosis risk based on language abnormalities and cognitive bias using artificial intelligence techniques.