NEXT Barcelona

Dr. Josep Tabernero, who founded the IOB Institute of Oncology in Barcelona, coordinates both units. NEXT Oncology – Barcelona is in the Hospital Quirónsalud Barcelona and headed by site coordinator Dr. Elena Garralda. The opening of the two units boosts continued research activity and creates a great opportunity to promote clinical research in Spain.

Josep Tabernero holds MD and PhD degrees from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain. He is currently the Head of the Medical Oncology Department at the Vall d’Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, and Director of the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO).

He also co-directs the VHIO´s Gastrointestinal and Endocrine Tumours Group and the Research Unit for Molecular Therapy of Cancer (UITM) and is Principal Investigator of several Phase I pharmacodynamic studies and translational projects with molecular targeted therapies, as well as phase II and III studies with novel chemotherapeutics.

Dr. Tabernero serves on the Editorial Boards of various top tier journals including Annals of Oncology, ESMO Open, Cancer Discovery and Clinical Cancer Research. He has (co) authored approximately 450 peer-reviewed papers.

Dr. Tabernero was on the Executive Board of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) having served as ESMO President 2018 – 2019. He is also member of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), and has been appointed as member of several Educational and Scientific Committees of ESMO, ASCO, AACR, AACR/NCI/EORTC, ASCO Gastrointestinal, and ESMO-GI/WCGIC meetings.

Dr. Garralda is a medical oncologist and clinical investigator who focuses her research on targeted agents, early drug development, translational research, and immunotherapies. She received her medical degree from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and completed her medical oncology specialization at the Hospital Universitario Madrid. Dr. Garralda also earned a Master’s degree in molecular oncology from the Centro de Estudios Biosanitarios Madrid.

Dr. Omar Saavedra is a medical oncologist and clinical investigator currently dedicated entirely to early drug development. He was trained as a clinical researcher at the Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology for more than 5 years where he was principal investigator of numerous clinical trials, as well as being part of translational studies in which he continues to work. Currently his work is focused on providing to his patients the latest cancer treatments as  next generation immunotherapies, targeted agents and epigenetic therapies.

Dr. Racca graduated in Medicine in 2006 from the National University of Rosario, Argentina. He subsequently completed his first medical specialty in Internal Medicine and later specialized in Medical Oncology at the Vall d' Hebron Hospital in Barcelona from 2012 to 2017. Primarily Dr. Racca in his interest in the development of new treatments and with the desire to fight cancer from multiple angles, since 2022 he has joined the forefront of clinical trial development at the Phase 1 Next Oncology Clinical Trials Unit in Barcelona. He is currently Principal Investigator/Co-Investigator of more than 20 early phase clinical trials and his main commitment is to offer the best treatment, which means making our research and care work, a place of first international level.

Guzmán Alonso, MD is a medical oncologist consultant dedicated to clinical research at NEXT Barcelona. He obtained his Medical Degree by the University of Cantabria in 2009 and completed his specialized formation in Medical Oncology at Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valencia, Madrid during 2014 and 2019. Once completing his residency, and with the aspiration of furthering her career as an Investigator, Dr. Alonso moved to Barcelona as a fully registered oncologist and completed a 2-year Clinical Research Fellowship focused on Early Drug Devoplment at VHIO (Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology). Afterwards, he has continued working at VHIO as a consultant.

In 2022, he joined NEXT Barcelona as a clinical researcher dedicated to early clinical trials and drug development with special focus on targeted therapies, DNA repair and cancer immunotherapy. He is currently the Principal Investigator/Co-Investigator of over 40 early phase clinical trials of novel anticancer agents for patients with advanced solid tumors and he has pioneered the development of new anticancer drugs.