Organization

Doctor in Medicine, specialized in Clinical Pharmacology, Professor at the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) and Director of the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB).

For more than 35 years, his scientific activity has focused on the field of neuroscience. Academically he has worked at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the Pompeu Fabra University, holding different positions in both universities (Delegate of the Rector, Dean and Head of Department).

He was the Director of the Municipal Medical Research Institute from 1985 and 2005, took part in starting up new research centres and has encouraged research infrastructures such as the PRBB, which manages since 2005.  He was the first director of the Pasqual Maragall Foundation from 2008 to 2020. 

He studied naval engineering at the Higher Technical School of Naval Engineers of Madrid. He also earned an MBA at IESE. He was CEO and President of Applus from 2006 to 2014, CEO of ITP, General Director of Gamesa, Dean of the Official School of Naval and Oceanic Engineers of Spain, President of the Barcelona Port Authority and President of the Social Council of University of Barcelona. He has received two crosses of Naval Merit and one of Aeronautical Merit. He also holds the Grand Cross of Order of Alfonso X El Sabio and was named “Best nautical sportsperson” in 1978. He is now adviser to the President of Gamesa, a member of the board of several companies and associate Vice-President of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Antoni Vila was born in Barcelona in 1949, he is Chief Executive Officer of Caixa d’Estalvis i Pensions de Barcelona, ”la Caixa” Banking Foundation since December 2019.

Graduate in Economic Sciences from the University of Barcelona. In 1975 he did a placement in Business Management in Sacramento (United States of America).

In 1975 he joined the Catalana Occidente Insurance Group in its life insurance business. In 1977 he began his professional career as a manager at Banca Jover, as Office Manager and Securities Department Manager. After its acquisition by Banco Santander in 1978 he held the position of Director of Head Office. In 1980 he joined Nido Industrial, S.A. in Holdings Management, both in Brazil and in Italy. He was Regional Director for Catalonia at Banco Internacional de Comercio (1981-1983) and at Banco Saudí Español-Saudesbank (1983-1985). In 1985 he began his career at ”la Caixa” as Territorial Manager of Grupo Caixa, a post he held until 1987. From 1987 to 1989 he held the position of Deputy Commercial Director and from 1989 to 1991, the position of General Deputy Director for Loan Capital, Capital Market and Insurance. In 1991 he went on to hold executive positions in the insurance group of ”la Caixa”, was appointed general Director and Board Member of VidaCaixa, and SegurCaixa, and also Board Member of Acesa and Adeslas. In 1998 he was appointed Executive Director of ”la Caixa”, member of the Management Committee and Territorial Director for Catalonia. In 2008 he was appointed Chairman of CaixaRenting. In 2012 he joined CaixaBank, and was involved in the merger processes of Banca Cívica and Banco de Valencia. In 2014 he was appointed Chairman of MicroBank, and in 2015 was also appointed Chairman of CaixaBank Consumer Finance (CCF) an institution that merged with CaixaRenting in the same year.

Ignasi López Verdeguer is director of Relations with Research and Health Institutions of the "la Caixa" Foundation. He has more than 20 years of experience in financing and management of research and innovation and fields of science and society. He is a physicist from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona / Université de Grenoble and has a postgraduate degree in Business Management from IESE-Universidad de Navarra.

Participates in areas of research and innovation governance at national and international level. He has been President of the research group of the European Association of Foundations (Philea) and of the Advisory Board of Ethical, Legal and Social Issues (ELSI) of EIT Health, among others. 

Representing the "la Caixa" Foundation, he is part of the board of trustees of several research centers. He is also an expert evaluator of the European Commission in the fields of Open Science and Responsible Research and Innovation and was a member of its Research Philanthropy Expert Group. He has led and participated in European Commission projects in these areas of the latest framework programs since FP7.

José García Montalvo is Professor of Economics at the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) and Research Professor at the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics and the IVIE. He has a degree from the University of Valencia and a doctorate in economics from Harvard University. He obtained the First National Prize for Completion of the Bachelor of Economics and the Extraordinary Bachelor Prize. He has been a consultant for a multitude of companies and international organizations including the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the European Union and the OECD among other institutions. Among these studies, the impact of scientific infrastructures or the financing of universities stands out. He has been Director of the Department of Economics and Vice-Rector for Scientific Policy at the UPF. He is currently Commissioner for Scientific Strategy at the UPF and a member of the Council of Social Sciences of the Ramón Areces Foundation. He has published 17 books and more than 140 scientific articles. He has obtained numerous recognitions for his research work such as the Rey Jaime I Prize for Economics (2019), the Catalunya Economics Prize (2017), twice the ICREA-Academia distinction or the UPF Social Council Award for Knowledge Transfer.

He has a degree in Physics from the University of Barcelona and a PhD in Computer Sciences from the Ramon Llull University. He has more than 12 years of experience working in research settings. In 2011 he was appointed General Manager of Research of the Government of Catalonia, a position he held until 2015. He currently serves as an associate director for the Barcelona Supercomputing Center – Centre Nacional de Supercomputació.

He has a PhD in Biology from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, serving as professor of genetics and lecturer and researcher at ICREA in its
Department of Experimental and Health Sciences at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra. His research focuses on population genetics, molecular evolution, genome-to-phenome relationships, and evolutionary medicine. In January 2016 he was appointed Secretary of Universities and Research of the Department of Knowledge and Business of the Government of Catalonia, a position he held until July 2018.

He has a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Since 1999 he has taught at Pompeu Fabra University, where he serves as professor at the Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, acting as head of the department from 2007 to 2013. He then took up the post of vice chancellor for scientific policy, holding this position until 2015 and commissioner for Scientific Strategy until 2018. He currently serves as director of the Biomedical Research Institute (IRB Barcelona).

Marcel Prunera Colomer, born on October 24th, 1972 in Barcelona. Economist from the UB, with various master's training in real estate management from UB and URL. He is a founding partner of Crea Inversión and Prisma Capital as well as President of GuinotPrunera. His professional career has led him to manage and work in financial services, investment and real estate companies. He has experience working both in multinationals and family businesses or undertaking his own projects. Also, for 7 years he was Director General of Economic Promotion of the Generalitat de Catalunya. He has always combined his professional activity with work with non-profit organizations in the field of culture, health and social impact.

Partner at Alta Life Sciences, a venture capital fund for life science companies, with headquarters in Barcelona. Former posts include: Managing Director of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Parc Científic de Barcelona, and Biocat. PhD in Biology by UB (1991), Master’s Degree in Science Communication (Barcelona School of Management-UPF 1997) and General Management Program by IESE (2007). Trustee of EADA and Board Member of RACC.