Ricard holds a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and a bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology from Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) in Tarragona (Catalonia). During his bachelor’s thesis performed at the Clinical Translational Program for Regenerative Medicine in Catalonia (P-CMR[C]) lab he acquainted himself with the CRISPR-Cas9 technique and got interested in organoid research after working with intestinal organoids. Throughout his master’s degree in Biomedical Research from Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona (Catalonia) he performed his master’s thesis at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC). There, he studied the effects of metabolic modulators in kidney organoids as a potential protective approach against SARS-CoV2 infections.

Recently, he joined the Applied Stem Cell Technologies group at the University of Twente as a PhD candidate. His project, supervised by Prof. Dr. Kerensa Broersen, will focus on the implementation of  a microbiome-gut-brain axis on a microfluidic chip.