Carlos Campos

I am currently an Assistant Professor at Lusófona University, conducting my core research work at the HEI-Lab - Digital Human-Environment Interaction Lab, whilst also collaborating with the Center for Rehabilitation Research (School of Health, Polytechnic Institute of Porto). My career has been mostly dedicated to the social brain and in the last 5 years I have particularly focused my work on how social behaviour and psychopathology can be linked to interoception. While conducting my Doctoral studies at the Laboratory of Neurophysiology, University of Porto (2018 - 2023), I was granted an FCT-funded individual fellowship aiming to conduct a multilevel assessment of interoception, examining its putative mediating role on the association between empathy and psychopathy. This immersive experience in interoception research combined with strong expertise in experimental neurosciences attained through advanced training and lab rotations at top-notch international institutions (e.g., Donders Institute, Oxford University, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Center for Developmental Social Neuroscience) has allowed me to develop in-depth knowledge about interoception evaluation (including implementing new methods or optimizing existing ones), contemplate recent theoretical models, and integrate behavioural and neurophysiological methods. I am currently leading two funded projects that, together with key national and international partners, aim to further contribute to the emergent field of interoception research: the Interoceptively Expecting project (funded by FCT) that examines the longitudinal trajectory of interoception from late pregnancy to the early parenthood period, further exploring how it influences parent-infant bonding and interaction after birth; the Empathic Heart project (funded by BIAL Foundation) which is focused on experimental work regarding the neurophysiological correlates of interoceptive processing, ultimately aiming to produce a new framework regarding the link between empathy and interoception. Besides this core component of my work, in the past 5 years I have been collaborating on several other funded projects (FCT, BIAL Foundation, COMPETE2020) related to the neural mechanisms underlying basic processes (e.g., fear processing and decision-making) as well as in additional studies aiming to develop and fine-tune rehabilitation methods relying on neuroplasticity (e.g., social cognition training, transcranial direct stimulation, biofeedback), which allowed me to present a solid track record as a highly productive young researcher (>30 peer-reviewed papers; h-index since 2019 = 17). Throughout my career, I also had the opportunity to develop around 10 years of teaching activities in neuroscience- and research-related topics (e.g., Foundations of the Social Brain and Interoceptive Processing; Research and Data Analysis Methods for Neuropsychology, Foundations of Brain Functioning, Basic Psychological Processes; Neuromodulation, Rehabilitation and Neuroplasticity). This has allowed me to conduct other important pedagogic activities such as student research supervision (>45 undergraduates; 11 masters, and 1 PhD) and building materials to support students (e.g., hands-on training protocols, pedagogic manuals). Finally, my background and early career professional experience working with community projects and social entrepreneurship (including a comprehensive bootcamp at the Porto Social Business School), particularly funded projects addressing the social integration of people with mental health conditions (e.g., Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Porto City Hall), has allowed me to develop a critical lens on the importance of producing knowledge about psychopathology than can ultimately improve assessment and intervention methods in psychiatric settings.