Lourdes Martorell

I am a researcher focused on the study of genetic and environmental factors involved in mental health. My research group belongs to the Institut Pere Mata University Hospital (www.peremata.com), the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (www.urv.cat), and the Institut d'Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (www.iispv.cat) located in Reus, Catalonia, Spain. Also, to the Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Salud Mental (www.cibersam.com) based in Madrid, Spain. From my scientific background, I have extensive experience in the genetics of psychiatric diseases and in exploring the relationship between genetic factors and clinical phenotypes. I have investigated in depth the hypothesis of mitochondrial dysfunction in psychiatric disorders by analyzing the mitochondrial DNA and mitochondrial function in brain and blood samples of patients and developing massively parallel mtDNA sequencing. As principal investigator and co-investigator of several national and international projects, I have successfully participated in or managed the projects (e.g., staffing, research protections, and budget). I have supervised nine doctoral dissertations, four of them currently under development. In addition to teaching and research, I am aware of the importance of science outreach. For this reason, I actively participate in outreach activities, especially in the feminist perspective of science.