Born in Terrassa in 1952, he is a Doctor of Medicine, Professor of Pharmacology at Pompeu Fabra University and Director of the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB). Member of the Institute of Catalan Studies (IEC) and vice-president of the Pasqual Maragall Foundation (for research into Alzheimer's), he was its promoter and first director between 2008 and 2020. He has received the Narcís Monturiol Medal from the Generalitat de Catalunya (2000), has been, among others, a member of the Advisory Council of the Ministry of Health and of the Spanish Bioethics Committee, and the first president of the Committee for Research Integrity of Catalonia (CIR-CAT).

His scientific activity has focused on the field of neuroscience (drug dependence, cognition), but he has also explored other fields such as bibliometrics, evaluation and science policy. An active member of the Spanish Society of Illusionism, he currently promotes scientific studies on the neuroscience behind magic.