HRC Speakers

PhD in Bioengineering from the UPC
With more than 20 years of professional experience in DeepTech and industry-academia partnerships (Industrial and Bioengineering R&D). Two areas of expertise, both Life Sciences and Sustainability.

Albert Pla Planas is a PhD in Artificial Intelligence specialized in the application of advanced machine learning to the life sciences and healthcare industry. His work focuses on developing AI-driven methods to extract insights from complex biomedical data, with particular emphasis on target detection, biomarker identification, and digital biomarkers. He has contributed to the design of end-to-end analytical pipelines for high-dimensional biological data, including spatial transcriptomics and multimodal datasets, enabling a more precise understanding of disease mechanisms.

With a strong publication record in bioinformatics and computational biology, his work demonstrates sustained engagement in translational AI, bridging methodological innovation with practical applications in clinical and pharmaceutical settings. He currently leads the Data for New Technologies team, focused on applying artificial intelligence to digital biomarkers and digital histopathology.

Alejandra es gestora pública en salud con más de 15 años de trayectoria, experta en gestión estratégica de personas e innovación pública. Como Jefa de Innovación y Apertura del Hospital Clínico Dra. Eloísa Díaz (Chile), ha liderado la consolidación de la institución como Organización Modelo en Innovación Pública. Impulsa la estrategia de "Hospital Abierto" fomentando la colaboración con ecosistemas que integran a la academia, la industria y la sociedad civil. Psicóloga, diseñadora de servicios y magíster en gestión de personas y organizaciones, se especializa en el rediseño de la experiencia usuaria mediante procesos de co-creación orientados a humanizar la atención de salud.

Alex Izquierdo és CEO d’AiMA Beyond AI, una startup de Barcelona especialitzada en solucions d’intel·ligència artificial aplicades a la salut i l’envelliment. El projecte AiMA desenvolupa un “humà digital” capaç de veure, escoltar, parlar, fer preguntes i acompanyar pacients o usuaris de manera contínua. La seva trajectòria està vinculada a la innovació, la salut digital, la silver economy i l’ús de la IA per combatre la soledat i millorar l’atenció a les persones.

Alejandro Tortosa is a senior professional working at Plug and Play Tech Center, bringing over 10 years of experience in innovation, open innovation, and startup investment. Operating across Europe, he leads corporate innovation initiatives, institutional partnerships, and venture client programs connecting global corporates with high-potential startups. At Plug and Play — the world's largest innovation platform with 600+ corporate partners, 2,000+ startups, and 35+ unicorns in its portfolio — Alejandro drives strategic collaborations at the intersection of AI, corporates, and emerging technologies. He is a recognized voice on how open innovation accelerates corporate transformation in the AI era.

Alex Zanuy Fanals és Business Developer a DyCare, empresa especialitzada en solucions digitals per a la rehabilitació. Té més de 15 anys d’experiència en gestió, vendes i màrqueting dins del sector eHealth. A DyCare treballa en el desenvolupament de negoci i en la difusió de tecnologies com ReHub, orientades a la telerehabilitació i la digitalització de serveis sanitaris. També ha participat en congressos i esdeveniments del sector salut representant l’empresa.

Dr. McGee is a doctor and healthtech leader with deep experience in clinical medicine, product development, and research. She is Senior Medical Advisor in AI at Flo Health Inc., Founder of Mara Health, and Chair at NXGN, where she champions the next generation of innovators in healthtech and biotech.

Her career spans the full healthtech ecosystem, from early-stage startups to Europe’s first femtech unicorn, positioning her as one of the most influential leaders driving meaningful, user-centered, and AI-enabled healthcare innovation.

Aline Noizet is a connector at heart! Passionate about innovation and new technologies applied to health, she is very people-centric and has a natural talent for connecting people and building ecosystems around digital health. Aline has a strong international network and a solid experience working with startups, helping them grow and connect with corporate companies, hospitals and investors. Today, Aline is fully dedicated to Digital Health Connector, her company, supporting and connecting the different actors of the digital health ecosystem and is part of nina capital team, a pan European venture capital firm investing in healthtech.

Andrea Barbiero is a digital health strategist and consultant with more than 25 years of experience in healthcare transformation across Europe and Latin America. She is the founder of Co-Salud, where she works on collaborative innovation, service design, and participatory approaches to digital health.

Her work focuses on the intersection of technology, public policy, and citizen engagement, supporting health systems, insurers, and research institutions in designing person-centred and socially sustainable models of care. Based in Barcelona, she is particularly interested in patient and citizen participation, governance of digital health, and responsible innovation.

Andrea Lopes is a healthcare professional specialized in clinical training, surgical environments, and innovative medical technologies, with a focus on minimally invasive and robotic surgery. She has experience supporting surgeons and multidisciplinary teams through structured training programs, clinical studies, and market initiatives. Andrea works at the intersection of technology and clinical practice, helping drive the safe adoption of new surgical solutions. Known for her collaborative approach and adaptability, she is passionate about advancing surgical education and improving patient outcomes through innovation.

I am a researcher and institutional leader with extensive experience in biomedical research management, innovation, and clinical translation across hospital and academic settings.
I am currently a researcher at ISCIII. I have held senior leadership positions as Corporate Scientific Director at Vithas, Managing Director of Fundación Vithas, and Scientific Director of Fundación HM Hospitales, where I led scientific strategy, research governance, and the development of initiatives with real clinical impact.
Throughout my career, I have combined basic and translational research with scientific leadership, university teaching, and the management of complex healthcare research structures.

Physician (MD), MSc in Epidemiology, and MSc in Malariology and Environmental Sanitation. Senior Researcher at the School of Public Health and Administration, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, with over 20 years of experience in applied research, social program evaluation, and health and food security policy design across Peru and 16 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. He has served as Peru’s Minister of Health, Head of the National Institute of Health, and Public Policy Advisor for the United Nations World Food Programme. His current work focuses on resilient health systems and digital health transformation in LAC.

Anna Muñoz Farré is Co-Founder and CEO of Punto Health, an AI-driven platform transforming cognitive and dementia care. Based in London, she is an AI scientist and biomedical engineer with research experience at MIT and UPC-Barcelona Tech, and prior roles at Elvie and BenevolentAI. She leads the development of clinically validated digital solutions deployed with healthcare partners across the UK and Spain, focused on enabling continuous, personalised care. Anna was awarded Upcoming Woman in STEM (DonaTIC) 2022 by the Catalan Government.

Anna Seriola, PhD, MBA, is a scientist and a serial entrepreneur trained at Cornell University and UZ Brussels, passionate about translating research into real clinical impact. She is the co-CEO and Co‑founder of Lumiris Spectral Solutions, a Barcelona‑based medtech company, spin-off of IBEC, developing non‑invasive optical technologies to advance assisted reproduction and reproductive health. Her career has been recognized for successfully bridging basic cell biology and genetics with translational innovation, resulting in patented and licensed technologies.She combines academic engagement, with leadership in regulatory, clinical, and business strategy. She has also contributed to institutional discussions on science, leadership, and work-life balance and supports collaboration between academia, industry, and patient-centered medical innovation worldwide across disciplines globally.

Antoni Llobet Mercadé és un professional manresà vinculat al món educatiu i universitari. Llicenciat en Filologia Catalana, ha treballat com a professor de secundària i també ha estat director d’institut. Al llarg de la seva trajectòria ha ocupat diversos càrrecs de responsabilitat en l’àmbit públic, com delegat territorial d’Ensenyament a Barcelona, regidor d’Ensenyament i Universitats i portaveu del govern a l’Ajuntament de Manresa, director general de Centres Públics i secretari de Polítiques Educatives del Departament d’Ensenyament. Actualment és el director general de la Fundació Universitària del Bages, FUB-UManresa, càrrec que va assumir el setembre de 2023.

Antonio Artés is Professor of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. He is the founder of the Signal Processing Group and has led a wide range of research, innovation, and technology transfer initiatives in AI, signal processing, and digital health. In 2017, he founded Evidence-Based Behavior (eB2), a company focused on AI-driven and mHealth solutions for mental health and wellbeing. He is also affiliated with IiSGM and CIBERSAM, and serves as co-director of the ELLIS Unit Madrid.

With over 20 years of experience collaborating with leading Catalan hospitals, as well as key stakeholders across the healthcare sector, we provide specialized consultancy in Lean Management, Quality and Patient Safety certifications, Patient Experience, and Strategic Planning. We also design and develop customized digital solutions, from healthcare apps to advanced Business Intelligence dashboards.

Arturo leads early-stage investments and company creation at Ysios Capital, driving the firm’s early-stage initiative.

Previously, he worked at M Ventures and most recently at Wellington Parties, where he was involved in multiple financings including Riffyn (acquired by Siemens), Plexium, eGenesis, Themis Biosciences (acquired by MSD) and Seamless Therapeutics, among others.

In 2022, Arturo played a pivotal role in the creation of Seamless Therapeutics, a pioneering gene editing company developing programmable recombinases for therapeutic applications and joined the company at launch, leading business development and corporate strategy from inception through several key milestones and securing a collaboration with Lilly valued at over $1.1B.

Arturo is also actively involved in the European life sciences start-up ecosystem, mentoring within several programs including the BII Advisory Group, among others. He is also one of the founders of the YVC Collective, one of the largest pan-European associations of emerging life science venture capital investors.

Arturo holds a BSc in Human Biology, an MSc in Biomedical Research, an MBA, and a PhD in Biomedicine.

Asli has over fifteen years of experience across academia and the healthcare industry, specialising in business development, technology transfer, innovation management, and leading projects from early-stage research to commercialisation. She has worked with a broad range of stakeholders, including pharmaceutical companies, start-ups, and university spin-offs. Asli holds a PhD and MSc in nanomedicine from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. At IBEC, she focuses mainly on drug development and therapeutics portfolio within rare diseases, oncology, infectious diseases and neurology, with a strong emphasis on creating spin-offs, fundraising, investment readiness, company formation, and strategic partnerships to bring innovations to market.

Barry brings with him seven years’ experience as a Biomedical Engineer and Sr. Scientific Reviewer at FDA/CDRH/ODE and FDA’s Boston District. This government experience was followed with over 17 years in midlevel and executive management positions in small start-up/large multinational medical device companies.  Market responsibilities included United States, EU, South America, Canada, Japan and South Korea. Barry has extensive experience with product development and FDA negotiations of US regulatory strategy (EUA, DeNovo 510(k) with clinical data, Breakthrough Designation, etc.). In the area of diagnostics this experience includes diagnostic devices for COVID-19, diagnostics using biomarkers in sweat, diagnostics using breath (diabetes and lung cancer), measurement of radiation exposure, and diagnosis of stroke.  He has written multiple 510(k)s, IDEs, and PMAs in cardiovascular,  orthopedic/sports medicine, spine, general surgery, gastroenterology, neurology/neurosurgery, and Ob/Gyn. Technologies embedded in these products included Machine Learning/AI, 3D Printing, and Software.

Bartomeu Ayala Márquez és doctor i cap d’Innovació en Salut i Social d’Althaia, Xarxa Assistencial Universitària de Manresa. També exerceix com a professor a les Escoles Universitàries Gimbernat i a l’Escola Montserrat. La seva trajectòria combina l’àmbit sanitari, docent i d’innovació, amb especial interès en la transformació digital, la millora de l’atenció a les persones i el desenvolupament de projectes innovadors en salut i en l’àmbit social.

Expert in integrated health and social care models, specialized in digital transformation applied to healthcare and social services. Proven experience in designing and deploying innovative territorial projects that integrate care governance, telecare, and new proximity-based service delivery devices.

Dr Benedetta Bolognesi is a Group Leader and Associate Director for Clinical Translation at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalunya (IBEC), where she leads a multidisciplinary research group focused on understanding and controlling protein self‑assembly in health and disease. Her team integrates genomics, biophysics, and cell biology to map how genetic variants and mutations alter protein behavior at scale, generating predictive frameworks directly relevant to disease mechanisms, with a special focus on neurodegenerative conditions. Trained at the University of Cambridge and the Centre for Genomic Regulation, her work is supported by an ERC Consolidator Grant, ERC Proof of Concept, multiple Spanish AEI grants, and La Caixa Health funding.