Lola Cañamero

Professor Lola Cañamero holds the Senior Excellence Chair in Neurosciences and Robotics at CY Cergy Paris University, hosted by the ETIS Laboratory. Her research focuses on modeling affective cognition in robots, integrating insights from neuroscience, ethology, and philosophy. She explores how emotions and social interactions influence decision-making and learning in robots, drawing parallels to human development, particularly attachment dynamics between infants and caregivers.

• Education: Began in philosophy in Spain, transitioned to AI with a PhD on action plan recognition at the University of Paris Sud (LRI). Postdoctoral work at MIT with Rodney Brooks expanded her focus on embodied AI and robotics.
• Career Path: Led a research team at the University of Hertfordshire (2001–2020) on affective and cognitive modeling. Now at CY Cergy Paris University, she investigates cultural influences on emotional interactions and adaptive behaviors in robots.

Her interdisciplinary work bridges robotics with healthcare, exemplified by a European project developing companion robots for diabetic children. She also collaborates with psychiatrists to model mental disorders through robotic systems.