Our speakers
Growth Lab speakers are legitimate experts in their field. From topics covering philosophy right through to artificial intelligence, we hand pick academic standard professionals to share their knowledge at our events.
This page will give you an idea of the types of speakers we work with and their backgrounds. You can also contact our team if you would like to work with any of them or book them for your own events.
Jose carlos bouso
FounderJose Carlos Bouso’s areas of interest are psychopharmacology and the therapeutic properties of entactogens, psychedelics, and cannabis. She has conducted therapeutic research with MDMA and ibogaine, as well as pharmacological research with various plant-based and synthetic substances, and studies on the long-term neuropsychological effects of substances such as cannabis, ayahuasca, and cocaine.
mariona sanz ausas
Director of Innovation, A.IMariona Sanz Ausàs is Director of Innovation and Business Development at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, where she works at the intersection of science, technology transfer and real-world business impact. Her role focuses on helping turn advanced research in areas such as high-performance computing, AI, life sciences and data into partnerships, spin-offs and new opportunities for industry.
macarena musante
Ocean Breath BarcelonaMacarena “Maca” Musante is the founder of Ocean Breath Barcelona and a breathwork, neuroscience and ice bath facilitator based in Barcelona. Her work brings together conscious breathing, cold exposure, yoga and freediving, helping people develop practical tools for stress regulation, emotional resilience and nervous system awareness.
rafel jaume y venys
La SalleRafel Jaume i Venys is a researcher, speaker, musician and professor at La Salle, Universitat Ramon Llull, working at the intersection of artificial intelligence, music, philosophy and technoethics. His work explores how emerging technologies are reshaping creativity, education and culture, with a particular focus on the ethical and practical use of AI in the arts. He is also a pianist, composer and choir director, giving him a rare perspective on AI as something that can influence human expression.
joan roig soriano
Vall d'Hebron Institute of ResearchJoan Roig Soriano, PhD is a postdoctoral researcher at the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Research, working within the Gene Therapy in the Nervous System group. His research focuses on ageing, longevity and the therapeutic potential of soluble Klotho, a protein increasingly studied for its role in healthy ageing, physical function and neurological resilience.
Iñaki Martín-Subero, PhD
Iñaki Martín-Subero, PhD is an ICREA Research Professor and Head of the Biomedical Epigenomics Group at IDIBAPS in Barcelona, where his work focuses on how epigenetic changes help shape the origin, evolution and clinical behaviour of blood cancers. Trained in biochemistry at the University of Navarra, with doctoral and postdoctoral work spanning Spain and Germany, he has built a career around using advanced sequencing and computational technologies to understand how normal immune cells become cancerous.
IDIBAPS Barcelona
hernando martinez
NeuroscientistHernando Martinez Vergara, PhD is an experimental and computational neurobiologist based in Barcelona, where he leads the Learning Circuits Lab at IDIBAPS. His research explores how the brain learns, forms habits and turns experience into behaviour, with a particular focus on the neural circuits and computations behind learned actions. His background spans biotechnology at UAB, bioinformatics at King’s College London, cell and developmental biology at San Francisco State University, a PhD at EMBL in Heidelberg.
phil balagtas
Futurist, Author and DesignerPhil Balagtas is a designer, futurist, strategist and founder of the Design Futures Initiative, the nonprofit behind the global Speculative Futures network and PRIMER conference. His work focuses on helping organisations use strategic foresight, speculative design and design fiction to think more clearly about the future, not as something abstract or distant, but as something that can be imagined, tested and shaped through better decisions today. He is also the author of Making Futures Work, a practical guide to integrating futures thinking into design, innovation and strategy.
MATT FREEMANTLE
Growth Lab host and FounderMatt Freemantle is a media and events strategist working across emerging industries, culture and future-facing ideas. He is the founder of Growth Lab LIVE, a Barcelona-based event series exploring the intersection of science, psychology, philosophy and self-optimisation, bringing together researchers, founders and curious audiences to examine how new ideas can change the way we live, work and think.
Oscar soto angona, md
Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaÓscar Soto Angona, MD is a psychiatrist, researcher and PhD candidate at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, working at the forefront of psychedelic-assisted therapy and novel approaches to mental health treatment. He trained in Medicine at the University of Valladolid and specialised in Psychiatry at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona, before moving into clinical research focused on treatment-resistant depression and emerging therapeutic models.