Survival against cancer has increased by 20% over the last 20 years thanks to cancer research. This improvement in results comes from the development of new early diagnosis tools and more specific and effective procedures, especially due to personalized cancer treatments and immunotherapy. Consequently, it is clear that research is the driving force behind making cancer a preventable, curable or chronic disease. To disseminate these advances, an event will be held that deals with the first results obtained and, with an eye on what is to come.
Mariano Barbacid got his Ph.D. in Madrid (1974) and trained as a postdoctoral fellow at the US National Cancer Institute. In 1978 he started his own research group to study the molecular events responsible for the development of human tumors, leading to the isolation of the first human oncogene, H-RAS, in 1982. In 1988, he joined Bristol Myers-Squibb where he became Vice President, Oncology Drug Discovery. In 1998, he returned to Madrid to create and direct the Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO). In 2011 he stepped down as Director to concentrate on his own research as Head of the Experimental Oncology Group. In 2012, he was inducted to the US National Academy of Sciences US and in 2014, elected Fellow of the AACR Academy. His work has been recognized by several international awards including the Steiner Prize (Bern, 1988), the Ipsen Prize (Paris, 1994), the Brupbaher Cancer Research Prize (Zurich, 2005), the Medal of Honor of the IACR (Lyon, 2007) and the Burkitt Medal (Dublin, 2017). He is a recipient of an Endowed Chair from the AXA Research Fund (Paris). To date, he has authored 320 publications, including 239 original research articles. His current “h” factor is 117.