The Department of Experimental and Health Sciences runs a PhD program in Biomedicine that currently enrols 414 PhD students. During the academic year 2014-2015, a total of 75 PhD theses were defended and their corresponding examination committees proposed 28 of them to compete for one of the seven PhD Extraordinary Awards given by the Doctoral School of the UPF to the PhD Program in Biomedicine.

The Steering Committee of the Doctoral School of the UPF has accepted the proposal by the Academic Committee of the PhD Programme in Biomedicine to grant the PhD Extraordinary Award to the following candidates:

Albert Antolín for his thesis entitled "The Impact of Polypharmacology on Chemical Biology", supervised by Jordi Mestres, Principal Investigator at the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) and Adjunct Professor at the DCEXS-UPF. In his thesis, Albert Antolín investigates the selectivity of small molecules on their target proteins and its implications on pharmacological safety. Selected publications from the thesis:

Antolin AA, Mestres J. Distant polypharmacology among MLP chemical probes. ACS Chemical Biology, 10:395-400, 2015.
Antolin AA, Mestres J. Linking off-target kinase pharmacology to the different cellular effects observed among PARP inhibitors. Oncotarget, 5:3023-3028, 2014.

Dr. Antolín is currently a Marie Curie Tecniospring postdoctoral fellow at the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM).

Maria Martí for her thesis entitled "Ligand selectivity at GPCRs: from multi-target binding profiles to biased agonism", supervised by Manuel Pastor, Associate Professor at the UPF, and Jana Selent, Principal Investigator at the IMIM and Adjunct Professor at the DCEXS-UPF. In her thesis, Maria Martí investigates the detection of molecules that enable the development of more efficient and secure antipsychotic drugs. Selected publications from the thesis:

Martí-Solano, M., Guixà-González, R., Sanz, F., Pastor, M., Selent, J. Novel insights into biased agonism at G protein-coupled receptors and their potential for drug design, Curr Pharm Des, 1:5156-66, 2013.
Martí-Solano M, Iglesias A, de Fabritiis G, Sanz F, Brea J, Loza MI, Pastor M, Selent J. Detection of new biased agonists for the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor: modeling and experimental validation. Mol Pharmacol, 87(4):740-6, 2015

Dr. Martí is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry of the Philipps University of Marburg, Germany.

Kyriaki Papantoniou for her thesis entitled "Cancer risk and hormonal changes in night shift workers", supervised by Emmanouil Kogevinas, Principal Investigator at the Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL). In her thesis, Kyriaki Papantoniou investigates the effects of night work on the risk of breast cancer. Selected publications from the thesis:

Papantoniou K et al. Night shift work, chronotype and prostate cancer risk in the MCC-Spain case-control study. Int J Cancer, 137:1147-57, 2015.
Papantoniou K, et al. Circadian variation of melatonin, light exposure, and diurnal preference in day and night shift workes of both sexes. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev, 23:1176-86., 2014.

Dr. Papantoniou is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Epidemiology of the Medical University of Vienna, Austria.

Javier Prado for his thesis entitled "Great ape genomics: Diversity and evolution", supervised by Tomas Marques Bonet, ICREA Research Professor at the DCEXS-UPF. In his thesis, Javier Prado investigates the genetic diversity of wild-born great apes. Selected publications from the thesis:

Prado-Martinez J, Sudmant PH, Kidd JM, Li H, Kelley JL, Lorente-Galdos B, Veeramah KR, Woerner AE, O'Connor TD, Santpere G, Cagan A, Theunert C, Casals F, Laayouni H, Munch K, Hobolth A, Halager AE, Malig M, Hernandez-Rodriguez J, Hernando-Herraez I, Prüfer K, Pybus M, Johnstone L, Lachmann M, Alkan C, Twigg D, Petit N, Baker C, Hormozdiari F, Fernandez-Callejo M, Dabad M, Wilson ML, Stevison L, Camprubí C, Carvalho T, Ruiz-Herrera A, Vives L, Mele M, Abello T, Kondova I, Bontrop RE, Pusey A, Lankester F, Kiyang JA, Bergl RA, Lonsdorf E, Myers S, Ventura M, Gagneux P, Comas D, Siegismund H, Blanc J, Agueda-Calpena L, Gut M, Fulton L, Tishkoff SA, Mullikin JC, Wilson RK, Gut IG, Gonder MK, Ryder OA, Hahn BH, Navarro A, Akey JM, Bertranpetit J, Reich D, Mailund T, Schierup MH, Hvilsom C, Andrés AM, Wall JD, Bustamante CD, Hammer MF, Eichler EE, Marques-Bonet T. "Great ape genetic diversity and population history." Nature, 499:471-5, 2013.
Prado-Martinez J, Hernando-Herraez I, Lorente-Galdos B, Dabad M, Ramirez O, Baeza-Delgado C, Morcillo-Suarez C, Alkan C, Hormozdiari F, Raineri E, Estellé J, Fernandez-Callejo M, Valles M, Ritscher L, Schöneberg T, de la Calle-Mustienes E, Casillas S, Rubio-Acero R, Melé M, Engelken J, Caceres M, Gomez-Skarmeta JL, Gut M, Bertranpetit J, Gut IG, Abello T, Eichler EE, Mingarro I, Lalueza-Fox C, Navarro A, Marques-Bonet T. "The genome sequencing of an albino Western lowland gorilla reveals inbreeding in the wild." BMC Genomics, 14:363, 2013.

Dr. Prado is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Human Genetics of the Wellcome Trsut Sanger Institute, Hinxton, UK.

Leszek Pryszcz for his thesis entitled "Comparative genomics to unravel virulence mechanisms in fungal human pathogens", supervised by Toni Gabaldon, ICREA Research Professor at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG). In his thesis, Leszek Pryszcz investigates how genomic hybridization plays a key role in the emergence of novel pathogenic lineages.

Pryszcz LP, Németh T, Saus E, Ksiezopolska E, Hegedűsová E, Nosek J, Wolfe KH, Gacser A, Gabaldón T. The Genomic Aftermath of Hybridization in the Opportunistic Pathogen Candida metapsilosis. PLoS Genet, 11:e1005626, 2015.
Pryszcz LP, Németh T, Gácser A, Gabaldón T. Unexpected genomic variability in clinical and environmental strains of the pathogenic yeast Candida parapsilosis. Genome Biol Evol, 5:2382-92, 2013.

Dr. Pryszcz is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Warsaw, Poland.

Mekayla Storer for her thesis entitled "Investigating the Roles of Cellular Senescence in Embryogenesis and Aging", supervised by Bill Keyes, Principal Investigator at the CRG. In her thesis, Mekayla Storer investigates the mechanism of cellular senescence in embryonic development. Selected publications from the thesis:

Doles, J., Storer, M ., Cozzuto, L., Roma, G. and Keyes, W.M . Age-associated inflammation inhibits epidermal stem cell function. Genes & Development, 26:2144-53, 2012.
Storer, M., Mas, A., Robert Moreno, A., Pecoraro, M., Ortells, M.C., Di Giacomo, V., Yosef, R., Pilpel, N., Krizhanovsky, V., Sharpe, J. and Keyes, W.M. Senescence is a developmental mechanism that contributes to embryonic growth and patterning. Cell, 155:1119-1130, 2013.

Dr. Storer is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Neurosciences and Mental Health of the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.

Rosa Suades for her thesis entitled "Role of microparticles in atherothrombosis", supervised by Lina Badimon Maestro, Principal Investigator at the Cardiovascular Research Center (CSIC-ICCC) and Adjunct Professor at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, USA, and Teresa Padró, senior scientist at the CSIC-ICCC. In her thesis, Rosa Suades investigates the effects of functional blood platelet microparticles in atherothrombotic cardiovascular disease. Selected publications from the thesis:

Suades R, Padró T, Alonso R, López-Miranda J, Mata P, Badimon L. Circulating CD45+/CD3+ lymphocyte-derived microparticles map lipid-rich atherosclerotic plaques in familial hypercholesterolaemia patients. Thromb Haemost, 111:111-21, 2014.
Suades R, Padró T, Vilahur G, Martin-Yuste V, Sabaté M, Sans-Roselló J, Sionis A, Badimon L. Growing thrombi release increased levels of CD235a(+) microparticles and decreased levels of activated platelet-derived microparticles. Validation in ST-elevation myocardial infarction patients. Thromb Haemost, 13:1776-86, 2015.

Dr. Suades is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the CSIC-ICCC, Barcelona, Spain.

The PhD Extraordinary Awards will be officially presented at the UPF Graduation Ceremony for master's and doctoral degrees that will take place on July 1 st, 2016, at the Ciutadella Campus. Full details about the UPF Graduation Ceremony can be found here.