The deputy director — Doctoral School — UPC. Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

Dr. Cristina Canal Barnils

Full professor


The Deputy Director represents the Doctoral School and is responsible for the management, coordination and supervision of the School's activities.

Her functions, as set out in the Regulations on the organisation and operation of the Doctoral School, are as follows:

  • To assist the director in his duties.

  • To carry out the functions delegated to him/her by the Director.

  • Any other duties assigned to him/her by the Statutes.

Cristina Canal is a full professor at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) and the head of the PlasmaMED Laboratory: Plasmas for Biomedical Applications, part of the Biomaterials, Biomechanics and Tissue Engineering Group, which belongs to the UPC’s Biomedical Engineering Research Centre (CREB), of which she is the assistant director. Canal has a doctoral degree in Textile and Paper Engineering from the UPC, a master’s degree in Medicine Research and Development from the UB and a degree in Chemical Sciences from the UAB. She has pursued research in various national and international research centres, including the Laplace Laboratory in France.

 

She currently leads the APACHE project with a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) and coordinates the network project Acció COST CA20114 PlasTHER, both in the field of plasma medicine. Her research focuses on the therapeutic applications of cold plasmas, particularly for cancer treatment, and on the modification of the surface of biomaterials to control parameters such as adhesion, biological behaviour and drug release.

 

Her work has led to numerous publications and guest lectures. She has received various awards, among them the 2018 Early Career Award in Plasma Medicine and the 2020 ICREA Acadèmia.