The objective of the group is to contribute to improving breast cancer treatment through preclinical research on in vitro and ex vivo models, biomarker studies for predicting responses and pharmacodynamics and clinical trials.

The group is led by Dr. Joan Albanell, Director of the Medical Oncology Service at the Hospital del Mar, and the recipient of a grant for research intensification.

Dr. Albanell has made numerous contributions to clinical and translational research in oncology, which she performed at the Hospitals Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre (1995-96), the Hospitals de la Vall d’Hebron (1997-2002) and Hospital Clínic (2002-June 2005). He is a member of the Board of Directors of ASEICA (Spanish Association of Research against Cancer), of GEICAM (Spanish Breast Cancer Research Group) and SEOM (Spanish Society of Medical Oncology). The group is comprised of oncologists, pathologists and biologists. The group is the national coordinator of the Applied Clinical Research platform, within the Translational Research Programme at RTICC (Subject-based Network of Cooperative Research in Cancer).

The group is structured along three interconnected research areas:

Preclinical laboratory: It is led by Dr. Ana Rovira (senior biologist), with extensive contributions in molecular and cellular biology, done at the Hospital Clínic, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). More

Biomarker laboratory: Dr. Federico Rojo is its avant-garde leader, who was hired in 2007 and is the author of seminal contributions in the field of pharmacodynamic studies and cancer biomarkers, in works carried out with the Oncology Group at the Hospital Vall d’Hebron since 1999. Dr. Coromines is a senior pathologist with recognised experience in breast cancer translational research. Dr. Montserrat Arumí has also joined the group, a pathologist devoted to research who completed her doctoral thesis at New York Hospital. More

Clinical research: Dr. Tusquets is the coordinator of the Functional Breast Cancer Unit. He leads clinical studies applied to the use of aromatase inhibitors and participates in several translational studies about breast cancer. Dr. Servitja, a medical oncologist, also participates in clinical research about breast cancer and clinical trials with biological therapies that are under development. More