Who we are

The expertise of CLISYNE revolves around four cornerstones of Neuroscience: basic research, computation, translation and clinics. Elena Galea has made extensive use of omics and bioinformatics in order to characterize the phenotypes of astrocytes in Alzheimer’s disease, and neurotrauma. She is using this wealth of data to develop astrocyte-targeted therapies using artificial intelligence, with the assistance of the company Anaxomics (Barcelona). Patrick Aloy is a leading expert in structural systems biology, and its applications to drug discovery, including systems polypharmacology. His ERC grant is a systems pharmacology approach to Alzheimer’s disease. Klaus Wimmer, Maurizio De Pittà, and Paolo Bonifazi are junior group leaders in systems/computational neurosciences with an expertise on neural circuits/networks, neuron-astrocyte interactions, and cortical microcircuits, respectively. Klaus Wimmer coordinates the network BARCCSYN (Computational, Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience, Barcelona). Concha Bielza and Pedro Larrañaga are experts in artificial intelligence. They have participated in the Human Brain Project (FET Flagship of the European Commission), and have developed data-driven models in epilepsy, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s diseases. Representatives of ‘wet’ science are Javier Vitorica and Antonia Gutiérrez, who will advise the network on cellular and animal models of neurodegeneration, as well as on studies with postmortem human samples. Roser Masgrau is an expert in CNS signaling and metabolism. Ana Castro has vast knowledge in drug design through medicinal chemistry and in technology transfer, as reflected in 12 patent applications. Silvia Muro will provide expertise in drug delivery to the CNS. She is an expert in transport carriers (e.g., antibodies, nanoparticles), and in targeted replacement of defective lysosomal enzymes in brain through transcytosis. The clinical perspective in Alzheimer’s disease will be provided by Estrella Gómez-Tortosa, a neurologist with ample experience in neurodegenerative diseases, and a member of the European Early Onset Dementia Consortium. Juan Sahuquillo will provide the clinical perspective in neurotrauma. His organization HUVC is part of the European Brain Injury Consortium. He has participated in clinical studies where machine-learning has been used for diagnosis.