Inmaculada Riquelme Agulló

Dr. Inmaculada Riquelme Agulló is a Professor in the Department of Nursing and Physiotherapy at the University of the Balearic Islands' Faculty of Nursing and Physiotherapy. With a distinguished academic career spanning multiple decades, she serves as a leading researcher and educator in the field of neurorehabilitation and physiotherapy for individuals with developmental disorders.

Education:

• Physiotherapy Degree from the University of Valencia (1995)
• PhD in Basic Medical Sciences from the University of the Balearic Islands (2011)

Dr. Riquelme Agulló's research focuses on the intersection of somatosensory processing, emotion regulation, and neurodevelopmental conditions, with particular emphasis on cerebral palsy. Her work explores how sensory inputs, emotional states, and brain processing interact in children and adults with developmental disorders. She has pioneered studies examining proprioception, affective touch, and pain assessment methodologies specifically adapted for individuals with communication difficulties.

Her extensive publication record demonstrates a clear trajectory toward increasingly sophisticated multimodal assessment approaches, combining EEG, behavioral observation, and physiological measures to understand sensory-emotional integration in neurodevelopmental conditions. Recent work has incorporated advanced technologies including deep learning for facial recognition pain assessment and virtual reality interventions.

Dr. Riquelme Agulló leads significant research projects funded through Spain's National R&D Plan, including the SENTS project (2021-2025) on somatosensory processing in neurodevelopmental disorders and a newer project (2024-2027) examining body perception in children with neurodevelopmental disorders.

As an educator, she teaches across multiple programs including undergraduate physiotherapy courses in neurology, traumatology, and general procedures, as well as master's level courses in social skills, emotional competencies, and neurorehabilitation. She serves as a thesis advisor for both undergraduate and graduate students.

She is an active member of two research groups: the Cognitive-Affective Neuroscience and Clinical Psychology (CANCLIP) group and the Graphics and Computer Vision Unit and Artificial Intelligence (UGIVIA) group, reflecting her interdisciplinary approach that bridges clinical practice with technological innovation.