José Baselga, M.D.

José Baselga, M.D. is the chairman of the Medical Oncology Service and director of the Division of Medical Oncology, Hematology, and Radiation Oncology at the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona, Spain, and a professor of Medicine at the Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona. He is scientific chairman of the Spanish Breast Cancer cooperative group SOLTI. Additionally, he is an associate editor of Annals of Oncology and a member of the editorial board for Cancer Cell, Clinical Cancer Research, Journal of Clinical Oncology, and Annals of Oncology.

Dr. Baselga received his M.D. from the Universidad Autonoma of Barcelona and had residencies at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital and the State University of New York, as well as a fellowship in medical oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Dr. Baselga was on staff at the Breast Medicine Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, before returning to Spain in 1996.

Dr. Baselga has published over 180 peer-reviewed articles in addition to over 300 abstracts and book chapters. His research interests are in clinical breast cancer and in translational and early clinical research in the area of growth factor receptors and downstream molecules as targets for breast cancer therapy. He has been involved in the clinical development of several new agents, including trastuzumab (brand name: Herceptin), lapatinib (brand name: Tykerb), insulin-like growth factor receptor inhibitors, and a variety of antiangiogenic agents.

Dr. Baselga is currently president of the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO). He is a member of several committees of the American Association for Cancer Research and of the AACR Research Council, and a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. Dr. Baselga has received a number of awards, including a Bristol-Myers Squibb Unrestricted Cancer Grant Award (2002-2006).

"I am enthusiastic about joining the Professional Advisory Board of Breastcancer.org," he says. "If we want to defeat this disease, nothing is more important than patient information and society awareness. Breastcancer.org is ideally suited to be a great tool for patients and the community."