Universitat de Barcelona
The University of Barcelona is a leading public institution recognized for its excellence in research, education, and innovation. Founded in 1450, it is Spain’s top-ranked university and a member of the League of European Research Universities (LERU). The university excels across a broad spectrum of disciplines and hosts prominent research centers, including the BCN-AIM Lab, which focuses on AI applications in medicine. With strong links to hospitals and international initiatives such as the European Space Agency’s GAIA project, the University of Barcelona combines academic rigor with high-impact research to address global challenges.
Prof. Karim Lekadir
Karim Lekadir is an ICREA Research Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Barcelona. He obtained his PhD from Imperial College London and was a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University. He investigates new data science techniques for trustworthy and ethical artificial intelligence in medicine. He has been PI in 13 EU-funded projects, coordinated 6 Horizon projects, and was awarded an ERC Consolidator grant to investigate new AI techniques tailored to resource-limited settings.
Dr. Lidia Garrucho Moras
Dr. Lidia Garrucho Moras is a senior researcher specializing in computer vision and AI for medical imaging. Her PhD focused on AI for Breast Cancer diagnosis and treatment prediction. She leads AI efforts in Horizon Europe projects such as EuCanImage and AFRICAI-RI, coordinating multidisciplinary teams and promoting open data and reproducible biomedical AI, including serving as Chair for the MICCAI Open Data Initiative.
Mahbod Issaiy
Dr. Mahbod Issaiy is a physician and PhD student in the AFRICAI-RI project at the University of Barcelona. He received his MD from Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2022 and worked as a researcher at a radiology research center from 2022 to 2025. His current research focuses on adapting medical imaging foundation models to African populations, with an emphasis on federated learning, data curation, and fair, robust model evaluation in diverse clinical settings.
Cecilia Kessler
Cecilia Kessler is a Project and Communications Manager at the Artificial Intelligence in Medicine lab (BCN-AIM), in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at the Universitat de Barcelona. She holds a MA degree in English Literature, Language and Culture from the University of Düsseldorf (Germany) and has extensive experience in events and communication management. Additionally to being the AFRICAI-RI Project Manager, she also plays a vital role in fostering internal coordination and external partnerships and is a AFRICAI Chair. Cecilia’s goal is to advance AI-driven diagnostics, capacity building, and ethical data use in Sub-Saharan Africa’s healthcare research landscape.