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Dr. Alejandro Lopez Valdes

Assistant Professor (Electronic & Elect. Engineering)
      
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Dr. Alejandro Lopez Valdes

Assistant Professor (Electronic & Elect. Engineering)

 ALEJANDRO.LOPEZ@tcd.ie

 


Currently, an Assistant Professor in Neural Engineering and Brain Health affiliated to the School of Engineering and The Global Brain Health Institute. I strive to contribute to the creation of applicable and scalable methods and solutions to support brain health throughout the lifespan. My research focuses on applied neural engineering supporting, aging, sensory dysfunction and cognition. Born in Mexico in 1987, I have a background in biomedical engineering, and specialized in neural engineering. I have industry experience in the fields of ophthalmology surgery medical device service and management, medical device design, and auditory assistive devices research and development. I obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Biomedical Engineering from ITESM in Monterrey, Mexico. Completed my Master's of Science in Bioengineering from the University of Groningen and Trinity College Dublin through the CEMACUBE programme funded by the European Union. I hold a PhD in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, specialized in neural engineering, from Trinity College Dublin. Before joining Trinity College Dublin as faculty, I carried out research in the area of cognitive hearing sciences and brain hearing technologies at Eriksholm Research Centre in Denmark.
  AUDITORY EVOKED RESPONSE   Bioengineering   Brain Health   Brain Health in Ageing   COCHLEAR IMPLANT PATIENTS   DEMENTIA, NEURODEGENERATIVE   DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING   EEG   Electrophysiology   HEARING LOSS   Hyperscanning   Medical Devices   NEURAL ACTIVITY   Neuroscience and Cognition   Unobtrusive EEG
Project Title
 ClicBrain
From
1/1/2026
To
31/12/2029
Summary
The CliCBrain project, through a research and training program, brings together a consortium of 23 partners from 14 countries " representing academia, business, and NGOs, with internationally renowned experts from climate science, arts, social sciences, psychology, epidemiology, neurosciences, architecture, and environmental design. CliCBrain will advance understanding solutions to the brain health threats that arise from the intersection of climate change, migration, and urbanisation, all of which have the greatest impact on the socioeconomic disadvantaged and marginalised. Climate change is a major global challenge " and the direct and indirect impacts on health and wellbeing are increasingly being highlighted. These effects are particularly alarming for brain health and disease , and in common with other global issues, the greatest impact will fall upon communities that are already subject to inequities and disadvantages. Brain health is defined by the WHO as the `state of brain function across cognitive, sensory, social-emotional, behavioural, and motor domains irrespective of the presence or absence of disorders and is a key factor in mental and physical health, allowing people to realise their full potential over the lifespan
Funding Agency
Horizon Europe
Programme
Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Project Title
 Interdisciplinarity for Brain Health in a Complex World: Creating a Framework for Research and Practice
From
1/1/2026
To
31/12/2026
Summary
Addressing the complex challenges of brain health"particularly neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer disease and Lewy Body Dementias (LBDs)"requires non-traditional scholarly approaches, rooted in interdisciplinarity. Thus, through a residential think-tank workshop, hosted by the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI), and using expert consensus methods, we will develop an interdisciplinary epistemological and pedagogical framework for brain health research. Rooted in in constructivist theory, the main output will be a co-authored Palgrave monograph (research white paper), as a resource for the brain health community. We will model best practices for interdisciplinary training, and knowledge translation for brain health equity, focusing on under-researched dementias.
Funding Agency
Research Ireland
Programme
New Foundations
Project Title
 Social disengagement in vulnerable populations
From
1/9/2024
To
31/8/2028
Summary
This project aims to bridge this knowledge gap by evaluating the real-time brain activity patterns of participants engaged in non-pharmacological interventions and deriving metrics of intervention benefit based on the synchronization (or lack thereof) of brain activity within a social context. This project is proposed on the basis that social facilitation and inhibition are modulatory effects that the presence of others may have on a particular task performance. The ability to measure and monitor these modulatory effects may be a key element to identifying individuals struggling to navigate their social context. Therefore, developing objective means to quantify the degree of facilitation or inhibition in a social scenario may help us understand how to prevent individuals to disengage in social situations. The proposed metric is based on brain synchronization activity, derived from simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG) recordings in social contexts through a technique known as hyperscanning.
Funding Agency
Trinity College Dublin / William Demant Foundation
Programme
Trinity Research Doctorate Award
Project Type
PhD
Project Title
 Brain Health Evaluation using Machine Learning on Ear-EEG Data
From
1/9/2024
To
31/8/2028
Summary
Ear-EEG is a potential alternative to scalp-EEG, with studies showing it can predict a significant portion of scalp-EEG data. As it is possible to reconstruct scalp-EEG data from ear-EEG using various ML models and scalp-EEG readings can be used to identify brain degeneration such as AD, it follows that ear-EEG could be an alternative tool for assessing brain health. The following research questions are addressed: 1. To what degree can we accurately reconstruct scalp-EEG on a blind basis by applying machine learning models on ear-EEG data? 2. How accurately can neural biomarkers associated with neurodegenerative diseases, such as AD, be predicted from ear-EEG data? 3. Can ear-EEG be leveraged to estimate a brain-age gap metric when compared to full scalp-EEG and MRI?
Funding Agency
Trinity College Dublin
Programme
Trinity Research Doctorate Award
Project Type
PhD
Project Title
 Investigating the impact of hearing aid signal processing strategies on hierarchical cortical processing of speech
From
1/9/2021
To
31/8/2022
Summary
Speech communication is impaired in individuals with hearing deficits. While hearing-aids can restore the ability to comprehend speech, their positive impact is greatly reduced in noisy multi-talker environments. To tackle this challenge, modern hearing-aids adopt amplification and noise reduction strategies that can increase comprehension in such real-life listening scenarios. However, the precise impact of those strategies on speech comprehension remains unclear, making the choice of the hearing-aid strategies and their parameter tuning challenging. One solution may be provided by the recent finding that neural signals recorded non-invasively with electroencephalography (EEG) during natural speech listening can be used to derive robust objective indices reflecting neural linguistic encoding. In this project, we aim to use such objective neural indices to determine the effect of hearing-aid strategies on the hierarchical processing of speech. In addition to providing us with novel important insights into the effect of hearing-aid strategies on the neural processing of speech, the natural speech listening task is suitable for the simplified identification of the optimal hearing-aid strategy in individual users. As such, this project will test the possibility of using EEG for the accurate and rapid tuning of hearing-aid devices.
Funding Agency
William Demant Foundation
Project Type
Research MSc

Page 1 of 2
Details Date
Editorial advisory board of the Journal of Brain Health 2025
Associate Editor of IET Healthcare Technology Letters 2020
Associate Editor of the IEEE Journal of Translational Engineering in Health and Medicine 2020
Guest Editor of Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience Research Topic: Bridging the gap between integrative neuroscience and translational neuroscience 2023
Advisor for the Trinity College IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology (EMBS) Student Branch Chapter 2022
Neuroscience Ireland Society Council 2025
Enterprise Ireland: Innovation Partnership Programme Grant Reviewer 2022
Alzheimer's Association: Capacity Building in International Dementia Research Program and Global Brain Health Institute Atlantic Philanthropies Pilot Projects Program Grant Reviewer 2024
Journal Manuscript Reviewer: Age and Ageing; BioMedical Engineering OnLine; European Journal of Neuroscience; IET Healthcare Technology Letters; Hearing Research; IEEE Journal of Translational Engineering in Health and Medicine; IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering; International Journal of Audiology; Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry; Trends in Hearing; 2013
Language Skill Reading Skill Writing Skill Speaking
Danish Basic Basic Basic
English Fluent Fluent Fluent
French Medium Basic Basic
Italian Medium Basic Basic
Spanish Fluent Fluent Fluent
Details Date From Date To
IEEE Brain 2026
Member of Neuroscience Ireland 2025
Member of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) 2025
IEEE Senior Member 2021
IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society 2021
IEEE Young Professionals 2021
Valdes AL, French C, Hannah J, Di Liberto GM, Attenuation in the neural tracking of auditory streams within the first 20 seconds of sound presentation., 2025, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED  DOI
Walsh A, Shanker S, Valdes AL, Classifying Neurodegenerative Diseases from Selected Temporal EEG Electrodes: Towards Ear-EEG Applications., 2025, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED  DOI
Bradshaw Bernacchi JK, Lopez Valdes A, Electrophysiological Characterisation of Commercial Ear-EEG Devices., 2025, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED  DOI
Voss P, Martinez-Moreno ZE, Prevost F, Zeitouni A, Lopez Valdes A and de Villers-Sidani E., Prediction of hearing aid cognitive outcomes in age-related hearing loss, Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 2025, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Bönitz H, Fiedler L, Finke M, Lyxell B, Lunner T, Lopez Valdes A, Büchner A, Wendt D., Listening Effort and Memory Effort in Cochlear Implant Users: A Pupillometry Study., Ear and hearing, 46, (6), 2025, p1613-1626 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Anneliese Walsh, Shreejith Shanker, Alejandro Lopez Valdes, Multiclass Differentiation of Dementia Subtypes Based on Low-Density EEG Biomarkers: Towards Wearable Brain Health Monitoring, Journal of Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease, 2, (4), 2025, p48 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED
J. P. Connelly, Erin Boland, Brenda Buckley, Niall Curley, Amr El Refaie, Miriam Galvin, Matthew Gibb, Liz Graham, Brendan Lennon, Alejandro Lopez Valdes, Ann-Michelle Mullally, Nicole Müller, Janice Nolan-Palmer, Gerald O" Nolan, Cíara O"Reilly, Valeria Raaft Rezk, Helen Rochford-Brennan, Katy Tobin, Helen Tormey, Dominic Trépel & Iracema Leroi, SENSE-Cog Residential Care: hearing and vision support for residents with dementia in long-term care in Ireland"protocol for a pilot cluster-randomised controlled trial, Pilot and Feasibility Studies, 11, 2025, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
Alex Kennedy, Alejandro Lopez Valdes, Analysis of synchronization component dynamics during a cooperative group task as assessed by electroencephalography, IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Conference, 2024, pp1-4 , Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
Moguilner S, Baez S, Hernandez H, Migeot J, Legaz A, Gonzalez-Gomez R, Farina FR, Prado P, Cuadros J, Tagliazucchi E, Altschuler F, Maito MA, Godoy ME, Cruzat J, Valdes-Sosa PA, Lopera F, Ochoa-Gómez JF, Hernandez AG, Bonilla-Santos J, Gonzalez-Montealegre RA, Anghinah R, d'Almeida Manfrinati LE, Fittipaldi S, Medel V, Olivares D, Yener GG, Escudero J, Babiloni C, Whelan R, Güntekin B, Y"r"ko"ullar" H, Santamaria-Garcia H, Lucas AF, Huepe D, Di Caterina G, Soto-Añari M, Birba A, Sainz-Ballesteros A, Coronel-Oliveros C, Yigezu A, Herrera E, Abasolo D, Kilborn K, Rubido N, Clark RA, Herzog R, Yerlikaya D, Hu K, Parra MA, Reyes P, García AM, Matallana DL, Avila-Funes JA, Slachevsky A, Behrens MI, Custodio N, Cardona JF, Barttfeld P, Brusco IL, Bruno MA, Sosa Ortiz AL, Pina-Escudero SD, Takada LT, Resende E, Possin KL, de Oliveira MO, Lopez-Valdes A, Lawlor B, Robertson IH, Kosik KS, Duran-Aniotz C, Valcour V, Yokoyama JS, Miller B, Ibanez A., Brain clocks capture diversity and disparities in aging and dementia across geographically diverse populations., Nature medicine, 2024, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Correia Guilherme, Crosse Michael, Lopez Valdes Alejandro, Brain Wearables: Validation Toolkit for Ear-Level EEG Sensors, 2024, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI  URL
  

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Award Date
William Demant Foundation Grant. "Neural markers of social facilitation as a tool for monitoring engagement in vulnerable situational contexts". (13,189.32 EUR) 20 January 2025
Higher Education Research Equipment Grant. EEG signatures of Brain health in older patients within routine clinical environments. (99,373.92 EUR) 14 January 2025
Trinity Research Doctorate Award (School Award) (PhD Student Fees and Stipend) 01 September 2024
Trinity Research Doctorate Award (College Award) (PhD Student Fees and Stipend) 01 September 2024
TCD Alumni Trust Fund: Neural Engineering Outreach and Teaching funding (11,325.00 EUR) 27 November 2023
William Demant Foundation and SFI Co-Funded, Co-Investigator Grant. Investigating attention switching in realistic listening scenarios. (170,686.08 EUR) April 2022
William Demant Foundation Co-Investigator Grant. Implementation of hearing aid signal processing strategies on hierarchical cortical processing of speech. (13,388.35 EUR) 01/09/2022
Demant Annual Innovation Challenge Winner January 2019
Demant Annual Innovation Challenge Winner January 2018
Collin Cherry Award January 2016
Engineers Ireland Biomedical Research Medal Finalist January 2016
3rd Prize Thesis-in-3 presentation at the Trinity Centre for Bioengineering Winter Symposium October 2015
Travel Grant Award for the 36th Association for Research in Otorhinolaryngology (ARO) Midwinter Meeting October 2015
HEA Graduate Research in Education Programme Scholarship (Full PhD Scholarship) 01/09/2012
CEMACUBE Erasmus Mundus Scholarship (Full MSc Scholarship) 01/09/2010
My research interests focus on applied neural engineering supporting, aging, sensory dysfunction and cognition. Aiming to help better understand changes in brain health as individuals move through their life. By including contextual information to capture the nuances of individual lifestyles and allow for individualized approaches to brain health. This would facilitate early detection of cognition difficulties before they become acute and support a healthy brain ageing.