José Manuel Fernández-Real Professor

University of Girona

Professor José Manuel Fernández-Real is a distinguished academic and researcher with a wide range of accomplishments in the field of endocrinology and nutrition. He currently holds the position of Full Prof. at the University of Girona (UdG) and serves as the Head of the Endocrinology and Nutrition Section at the Hospital "Dr Josep Trueta." Additionally, he is an outstanding research scientist at the Girona Biomedical Research Institute and leads the renowned Nutrition, Eumetabolism, and Health (NEH) group. Its main lines of research are the study of the biology of adipose tissue, the exploration of circulating factors, including tissue microRNAs, the Gut Microbiota-intestine-brain axis and the effects of iron on cognition.

He is interested in computational and integrative approaches to metabolism and inflammation, with a focus on multi-omics data analysis and inter-organ communication. His research explores the interplay between epigenetic and microbiome-driven signals in nutritional and metabolic diseases, including adipose tissue biology, iron metabolism, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and gut–brain axis interactions.

His work on metabolic diseases and neurocognition includes work on innate immune system, inflammation and metabolic diseases as well as the brain as a metabolic organ, drosophila as a model for cognition in metabolic diseases and cognitive impairment, the adipose-liver-intestine axis and the gut–brain axis and iron as a modulator of inflammation in metabolic pathology.