Administration & Management

Anna Bosch holds a PhD with a doctoral thesis in molecular genetics and developed translational research on diabetes during several years, at University of Barcelona and the Tumor and Biology Centre in the Karolinska Institute, Sweden. In 1998 she incorporated to the IDIBAPS to create the biobank of the Esther Koplowitz Medical Research. Subsequently her responsibilities extended to other biobanks and scientific core facilities including genomics, bioinformatics and biostatistics, flow cytometry, cerebral imaging through MRI and P3 laboratory. Since April 2018 she is the current General Manager of the EF Clif.

Her major challenges for the near future are increasing the participation of the Foundation in EU grants and the incorporation of high throughput omics technology in most observational studies and projects.

Cecilia Ducco is the Executive Assistant of the EF Clif. Since 2010 she has been working on the biotechnology industry as an Office Manager, where she has gained experience in dealing with the administrative matters of research.

She had worked in the Flight Operations Department in Vueling.

Cecilia’s aim is to succeed in an environment of growth and excellence and help to achieve the EF Clif organizational goals.

Yolanda Godoy is a Scientific Assistant and manages the start-up of the big projects in the EF Clif as she specializes in large international multicentric observational studies. She holds a Master in Project Management in Lasalle-URL and a MBA in EAE. Yolanda had worked in coordinating and controlling the overall quality and the corporate services in an outsourcing company.

Yolanda’s main interest is Project Management, as a way to ease the job of researchers and to enhance synergies between professionals and projects.

Data Management Center

Cristina Sánchez Garrido worked as an external provider for the EF Clif since 2014. In March 2018 she joined the Data Management Center working as a Data Manager as well as a Samples Manager in coordination with the biobank. She is an economist with a master’s degree in Financial accounting and Controlling.

Prior to be a member of the EF Clif she was COO during 14 years in a Clinical Research Organization focused in developing clinical databases of different pathologies. Sharing her financial activities with the management of the IT Department, she was in charge of the accomplishment in front of the client of the project’s development and deadlines.

Her main interests as a Data Manager in EF Clif are not only the design of CRFs, combining the clinical vision with an accurate structure, validations and a friendly interface, but the coordination of activities in clinical platforms development, data cleansing processes and samples management.

Patricia Sierra Casas worked as an external laboratory technician for the EF-Clif since August 2018. In April 2020, she joins the Data Management Center working as a Data Manager Junior, in coordination with the biobank. She is a biotechnologist with master’s degrees in Biomedicine and in Clinical Trial Monitoring and Pharmaceutical Development.

Prior to be a member of the EF Clif, she worked in different research groups for short-term stays, focusing in analyzing gene expression to study cell behavior and molecular biology in different diseases. Working as the laboratory technician for the PREDICT Study, she was responsible for sample inventory, registration in a specific database to guarantee traceability, processing, long-term storage and shipments.

Her main interests in her new professional stage are the correlation between activities in clinical facilities and sample management, and the associated clinical data. She will be able to perform data cleaning processes and validations.

Carlos de la Peña Ramírez joined the EF Clif as a Biostatistician in July 2021. He studied a bachelor's in biology at the University of Barcelona, where he specialized in molecular, cellular and systems biology. After that, he moved to Porto, Portugal, to work in the field of biomedical engineering.

Before joining the EF Clif, he finished a master's in Statistics and Operative Research at the Polytechnical University of Catalonia together with the University of Barcelona (MESIO). He completed his Master Thesis in the Global Health Institute of Barcelona (ISGlobal) while working part-time for Sanofi.

Ferran Aguilar holds a degree in Statistics (UB-UPC), a post-graduate in Lean Six Sigma for the control and improvement of processes (UPC) and an MSc in Bioinformatics and Biostatistics (UOC). Ferran has worked as a data analyst in Nielsen and as a biostatistician in a start-up of biomedical investigation and consulting until he joined the EF Clif in February 2017 as a biostatistician. Since then he has visited different investigation centers on behalf of the EF Clif to improve his skills in bioinformatics, like the UCLA in Los Angeles (California) to work with genetic data and Navarrabiomed (Spain) for the integration of different omics.

He is interested in the analysis and integration of clinical and omics data using different approaches like machine learning algorithms and discover new data visualization techniques.

Pedro Izquierdo-Bueno is the Chief Information and Technology Officer of EF Clif with a degree in Computer Science specializing in Information Systems. For more than 10 years he has managed the creation and evolution of eCRF projects in the Health and Biotechnology industry. Also, he has worked managing projects in the Financial Sector, giving him experience and a global vision in risk management from another point of view.

As CTO / CIO, he is in charge of managing the IT Department and creating new eCRFs for EF Clif, as well as responsible for the evolution of the eCRF engine.

Eva Uson joined the Data Management Center of EF Clif in September 2021 as Senior Statistician.

She holds a degree in Statistics by University of Barcelona. She has more than 20 years of experience in Clinical Research Organizations, performing tasks as Statistician in several Clinical Trials, Observational and Non interventional studies in different pathologies. As a statistician, she works on the review of the protocol, CRF and CSR and design of the statistical analysis plan and statistical programming and validation.

Montserrat Pujadas Lorente joined the Data Management Center of EF Clif in September 2021 as a Data Manager. She holds a Ph.D in Biomedicine by the University of Barcelona, focused on Protein-Protein Interactions and also a master's degrees in Biomedicine and in Clinical Trial Monitoring and Pharmaceutical Development.

Prior to be a member of the EF Clif she worked as site Data Manager of Phase I Oncology Clinical Trials at Vall d'Hebron, and as Project Manager of the Undiagnosed Rare Diseases Program of Catalonia.

Researchers

Vicente Arroyo is Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the University of Barcelona, Chairman of the European Association for the Study of the Liver Chronic Liver Failure Consortium (EASL-CLIF Consortium) and the current Director and co-founder of the European Foundation for the Study of Chronic Liver Failure (EF-CLIF).

He has been Chief of the Liver Unit at Hospital Clínic of Barcelona, Director of the Institute of Digestive and Metabolic Diseases of the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona, Chairman of the Department of Medicine of the University of Barcelona and Director of the Esther Koplowitz Biomedical Research Center.

His main areas of research are Complications of Cirrhosis such as Ascites, acute bacterial infection and mainly, Acute on Chronic Liver Failure. All his efforts are focused now in promoting research and the role of young investigators in it.

Dr Paolo Angeli is a full professor of Internal Medicine and Chief of the Unit of Internal Medicine and Hepatology (UIMH) at the department of Medicine (DIMED) of the University-Teaching Hospital of Padova (Italy), where he coordinates the PhD Course of Medical Experimental Sciences and leads a research group on acute liver disease, acute liver failure, chronic liver disease, pathophysiology and complications of portal liver hypertension, acute on chronic liver failure, hepatocellular carcinoma and liver transplantation.

He is a member of the Italian Association for the Study of Liver (AISF), the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), and the American Association for the Study of the Liver Disease (AASLD). In 2013, he was awarded the Honorary Degree of Transplant Hepatologist by the AISF. From 2012 to April 2018, he was the Secretary of the International Club of Ascites. From 2018 he is the Chairman of the Ef Clif. From July 1st 2019 he is the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Hepatology.

Richard Moreau is the Deputy Director of the Grifols Chair for Translational Research and the Chair of the recently created Scientific Advisory Committee at the EF Clif. He is an Emeritus Senior Scientist at the INSERM and Consultant in Hepatology at the Liver Unit at Beaujon Hospital in Clichy, France. He is also Special Section Editor of Journal of Hepatology. He was previously Associate Editor for Journal of Hepatology (2010-14) and Liver International (2007-09) and Senior Editor of Journal of Hepatology (2015-19).

Because of his main interest in pathophysiology and treatment of complications of cirrhosis, in particular in ACLF, he was a member of the first EASL-CLIF Consortium Steering Committee in 2009. He was the Principal Investigator of the CANONIC study, the first one performed under the umbrella of the EASL-CLIF Consortium; which was the first to provide an evidence-based definition for ACLF.

Rajiv Jalan is a Professor of Hepatology at the University College London and a Consultant Hepatologist at the Royal Free Hospital. Since 2000, he has led research in multiple areas of liver disease, focusing on liver failure (ACLF) which is his forefront of research. In particular, he has coordinated 2 large H2020 granted studies in this field: the CARBALIVE and the ALIVER. He has developed novel therapies such as DIALIVE, CARBALIVE, TLR4 antagonist and ornithine phenyl acetate for the prevention and treatment of ACLF and, hepatic encephalopathy.

He is one of the co-founders of the EASL Clif Consortium and the past Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Hepatology (2015-2019). Since March 2020, he is the Scientific Director of the EF Clif.

Dr. Fernández is a Consultant in Hepatology and the Head of the Liver ICU at the Institute of Metabolic and Digestive Diseases in the Hospital Clínic in Barcelona, Spain. He is also the Clinical Coordinator of the EASL Chair in the EF Clif.

He holds a degree in Medicine from the University of the Basque Country, Spain. He specialized in Gastroenterology in 1998 at the Hospital Clínic in Barcelona. In 2006 he obtained his PhD at the University of Barcelona. He is an associate Editor for Journal of Hepatology and a reviewer for Journal of Hepatology, Hepatology, Gastroenterology, Gut, Liver International and Critical Care Medicine, and a member of the Spanish Society for the Study of the Liver (AEEH), the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) and the American Association for the Study of the Liver (AASLD). He is also a member of the EASL Clif Consortium Steering Committee.

Prof Jonel Trebicka is the Head of Section of Translational Hepatology (TransHep) at Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University Clinic, Frankfurt am Main, visiting professor at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) in Barcelona, Adjunct Professor in Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Faculty of Health Sciences University of Southern Denmark, Professor at the Ef Clif and member of the EASL Clif Consortium Steering Committee.

Author of several papers focused on portal hypertension and hepatic fibrogenesis. He completes his publication activity as a member or the Editorial board of Gut and Gastroenterology, among others.
He is the PI of the PREDICT Study, promoted by the EF Clif and Coordinator of the MICROB-PREDICT Study, funded with a H2020 grant promoted by the EF Clif, as well.

Professor Joan Clària is the Secretary of the Grifols Chair and Coordinator of Translational Research at EF CLIF. He is also the Leader of the Research Group “Inflammation and liver disease” at the IDIBAPS Research Center, Professor at the Department of Biomedical Sciences of the University of Barcelona and Senior Consultant at the Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics Service of the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona. He trained as clinical biochemist at the Hospital Clínic, performed post-doctoral studies as Fulbright scholar at the Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston, MA) and appointed as visiting professor at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC), The Jackson Laboratory (Bar Harbor, ME) and Harvard Institutes of Medicine (Boston, MA).

He belongs to the Editorial Board of Journal of Immunology (Section Editor Innate Immunity), Frontiers in Immunology (section Molecular Innate Immunity) and Frontiers in Inflammation Pharmacology. He is the President of the European Society for Lipid Mediators. He has several awards, as the Albus Grifols Award (2017) and the Young Investigator International Aspirin Award (1996).

Thierry Gustot is the Clinical Director of the Liver Transplant Unit at the C.U.B. Erasme Hospital and Senior Lecturer at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium. His research focusses on ACLF, infectious complications of cirrhosis, alcoholic hepatitis, critical illness in cirrhosis and inflammation associated with advanced liver diseases.

He is awarded several prizes, as the Fonds Carine Vyghen 2017 for organ donations and author of several publications on ACLF. He is also vice chairman of the EASL Clif Consortium and a senior member of its Steering Committee.

Pierre-Emmanuel Rautou (MD, PhD) is a clinical specialist in Hepatology with a PhD in vascular biology (2011). He is Professor of Hepatology at the University of Paris-Diderot and Hôpital Beaujon (Clichy, France) since 2016. He is the head of the splanchnic hemodynamic laboratory at Beaujon Hospital (Clichy, France) since 2012. He is also leading an Inserm team dedicated to the study of the role of vessels in liver diseases, at the INSERM Unit 1149 (Paris Research Center on Inflammation).

His research is focused on the role of vessels in liver diseases. Specifically, he is interested in primary vascular liver diseases (Budd-Chiari syndrome, portal vein thrombosis and intrahepatic non cirrhotic portal hypertension), as well as in vascular involvement in common liver diseases development and complications. He has joined the EF Clif team to lead the DECISION Study, granted with an H2020.

Dr Diaz is a member of the Hepatology and Liver Transplant Unit at the Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires (Argentina), that works as a nationwide referral centre for complex medical conditions. He has been trained under the mentorship of Prof. Dr Adrian Gadano, Dr Sebastian Marciano and Dr Ezequiel Mauro, and he is a specialist in the management of patients with chronic liver disease. As a specialist in internal medicine, hepatologist, and epidemiologist, he has carried out clinical research in the field of decompensated cirrhosis and, more specifically, in acute-on-chronic liver failure.

Dr Diaz has been contributing to the research of the multicenter, Latin American ACLF-ACLARA study in relationship to clinical recruitment and biosamples management. A Cellex Grant ACLARA has given the opportunity Dr Diaz to perform a one-year stage at EF CLIF headquarters in Barcelona, and develop new competencies related to clinical and translational research.