Prof. Joaquim Raduà

Group leader (R4)

Full professor
(University of Barcelona)

Prof. Joaquim Raduà is a researcher in mental health, head of the IMARD group at IDIBAPS, and Full Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Barcelona. His work combines clinical psychiatry, advanced statistics, and neuroimaging to investigate the neural correlates of mood and anxiety disorders and to develop predictive models of clinical outcomes. He has authored influential umbrella reviews, methodological guidelines, and neuroimaging tools such as SDM, and he leads large-scale international mega-analyses within the ENIGMA consortium. Recognized as a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher every year since 2017, his work has advanced both methodology and clinical translation in psychiatric neuroimaging.

Dr. Miquel Àngel Fullana

Senior Researcher (R3A)

Consultant Clinical Psychologist
(Hospital Clínic Barcelona)

Dr. Fullana’s research focuses on fear-based disorders—such as anxiety disorders and obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD)—and on the neurobiological mechanisms underlying responses to aversive and appetitive stimuli. He leads the Fear Conditioning subgroup of the ENIGMA Anxiety Working Group, fostering international collaborations to identify the neural correlates of fear learning. Alongside his basic research, Dr. Fullana also works in applied domains, contributing to the development of innovative treatments, including internet-based psychological interventions. His findings have been published in leading journals such as Nature Communications, Molecular Psychiatry, Biological Psychiatry, and the American Journal of Psychiatry, and he has supervised numerous doctoral theses.

Dr. Clara López-Solà

Senior Researcher (R3A)

Clinical Psychologist
(Hospital Clínic Barcelona)

Clara López-Solà is a clinical psychologist and senior specialist at the Department of Psychiatry of Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, where she works in the Health Psychology section. She is also Co-Director of the Master’s degree in Mindfulness for Health and Wellbeing at the University of Barcelona. Her research career has focused on obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety disorders, integrating neuroimaging and experimental psychopathology to study cognitive and emotional mechanisms. She trained at IDIBELL (OCD Unit) and held research fellowships at the University of Melbourne and Virginia Commonwealth University. Her work bridges clinical practice, teaching, and research to improve interventions for mental health disorders.

Dr. Lydia Fortea

Postdoctoral Researcher (R2A)

Dr. Lydia Fortea is a postdoctoral researcher specialized in psychiatric neuroimaging, machine learning, and advanced meta-analytical methods. Her work focuses on identifying MRI-based biomarkers and developing predictive models to uncover the neural mechanisms underlying psychiatric conditions, with the long-term aim of advancing precision psychiatry. Her doctoral thesis, supervised by Profs. Joaquim Raduà and Eduard Vieta, addressed key sources of heterogeneity—such as comorbid disorders—to improve the reliability of neuroimaging biomarkers in psychiatry. She has published in leading journals, including Biological Psychiatry, Molecular Psychiatry, and World Psychiatry, with contributions ranging from biomarkers of treatment response to transdiagnostic risk factors for mental disorders.

Dr. Michele De Prisco

Predoctoral Researcher (R1)

Member of the “Bipolar and depressive disorders” group by Prof. Eduard Vieta, Dr. De Prisco’s research has focused on affective disorders, particularly bipolar disorder, integrating clinical psychiatry with advanced statistical and machine learning approaches. After completing his residency in psychiatry at the University of Naples “Federico II”, he joined Hospital Clínic / IDIBAPS, where he conducts studies on emotion dysregulation, digital biomarkers, and cognitive functioning in mood disorders. He has led and co-authored numerous systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and network meta-analyses, including work published in The Lancet Regional Health, Biological Psychiatry, and Molecular Psychiatry. His research bridges clinical insight and computational psychiatry to improve personalized treatment strategies.

Enric Vilajosana

Predoctoral Researcher (R1)

Enric Vilajosana holds a Master’s degree in General Health Psychology from the University of Barcelona and a Master’s in Clinical Neuropsychology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. His doctoral project focuses on the development of neuroimaging-based tools for diagnosing and predicting treatment outcomes in psychiatric disorders. He has co-authored publications in journals such as Biological Psychiatry, Molecular Psychiatry, and Psychological Medicine, and has presented his work at international conferences. Prof. Joaquim Raduà and Dr. Miquel Àngel Fullana supervise his research.

Annie Vardaxoglou

Predoctoral Researcher (R1)

Annie Vardaxoglou is a CBT psychologist with an MSc in Clinical Neuropsychology and research experience across several European centers. At IDIBAPS, she investigates psychobiological mechanisms underlying compulsivity, anxiety, and stress, using neuroimaging methods to predict symptoms in both clinical and healthy populations. Her previous work includes the development and cross-cultural validation of the Amsterdam Cognition Scan, research on the role of nicotine in individuals at high risk for psychosis, and neuroimaging studies on auditory hallucinations and depression. Bridging neuroscience and clinical practice, her work aims to improve understanding and treatment of mood- and anxiety-related disorders.

Adrian Rogers

iCBT technician

Adrian Rogers is a full-stack web developer with extensive experience in building responsive and secure applications. He has worked in high-impact environments, developing and maintaining large-scale platforms with millions of users each week. He has also been active in the tech community through Codebar.io Barcelona, where he mentors and organizes workshops for underrepresented groups. At the IMARD group, he now develops and maintains the internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT) platform, bringing his expertise in modern web technologies to support digital interventions in mental health.

Judit Nova

MRI acquisition technician

Judit Nova is a research technician with a degree in Health Biology from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. She has extensive experience supporting clinical and translational neuroscience projects, ranging from vascular dementia models to studies of subarachnoid hemorrhage, stroke, and post-traumatic stress disorder. At IDIBAPS, she has worked on participant recruitment, clinical assessment, neuroimaging support, and laboratory analyses. She has also been active in promoting equality in science as a member of the Equality Committee at IIBB-CSIC. Her work bridges laboratory research and clinical studies, contributing to projects that aim to improve understanding and treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Dr. Víctor Vicens

Former PhD Student

Chief Medical Officer
(Abi Global Health)

In his doctoral thesis “Cerebral Correlates of Delusional Disorder Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging” (University of Barcelona, 2021), Dr. Vicens conducted the first comprehensive study of brain alterations and neuropsychology in Delusional Disorder. He identified selective brain natomical, activation, connectivity, and cognitive deficits. The findings support neurobiological theories of delusions and suggest Delusional Disorder lies between schizophrenia and normal brain function. The work was supervised by Drs. Joaquim Raduà and Èdith Pomarol-Clotet.

Dr. Anton Albajes-Eizagirre

Former PhD Student

Head of Data
(ClickDefense)

In his doctoral thesis “Development, Implementation, and Validation of a New Method for Meta-Analysis of Voxel-Based Neuroimage Studies” (University of Barcelona, 2021), Dr. Albajes-Eizagirre developed SDM-PSI, a novel neuroimaging meta-analytic method designed to overcome key limitations of previous techniques. His work introduced advanced statistical strategies such as MLE and multiple imputation. The resulting method was implemented in user-friendly software. The work was supervised by Drs. Joaquim Raduà and Èdith Pomarol-Clotet.

Dr. Aleix Solanes

Former PhD Student

Data Scientist
(Teladoc Health)

In his doctoral thesis “Anatomical-Clinical Prediction of Unfavorable Outcomes in Mental Disorders Toward Personalized Medicine” (Autonomous University of Barcelona, 2023), Dr. Solanes developed a model to estimate relapse risk after a first psychotic episode using clinical and structural MRI data from multiple centers. He addressed multicenter modeling and optimized MRI preprocessing. The model identified high-risk individuals with nearly five times the relapse rate of low-risk cases. The work was supervised by Drs. Joaquim Raduà, Eduard Vieta, and Alberto Fernández-Teruel.

Dr. Pol Palau

Former PhD Student

Consultant Psychiatrist
(Parc Taulí Hospital Universitari)

In his doctoral thesis “Creation of a Prognostic Model in Bipolar Disorder Combining Clinical and MRI Data” (University of Barcelona, 2023), Dr. Palau developed a model to estimate relapse risk after manic episodes by integrating clinical, socio-demographic, and MRI data. The study used both structural and functional MRI from patients recruited at FIDMAG and Hospital Clínic. Through Cox lasso machine learning, he built a tool to help clinicians tailor treatment based on individual risk. The work was supervised by Drs. Joaquim Raduà and Èdith Pomarol-Clotet.

Dr. Miguel Ángel Rivas Fernández

Former postdoctoral fellow

Assistant Professor
(University of Leon)

Miguel Ángel Rivas Fernández earned his PhD in Neuroscience and Clinical Psychology from the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, where he conducted a longitudinal study on cognitive decline in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s disease using neurocognitive markers. He later held postdoctoral fellowships at the IMARD group and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), focusing on translational research in neuroscience and clinical psychology. His work integrates cognitive, clinical, and neuroimaging approaches to understand brain functioning in health and disease better. His research interests include cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease, psycho-oncology, and the interface of clinical psychology with neuroscience.