Two Catalans to lead New York’s Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre

New-York (ACN).- Doctor Joan Massagué has been appointed Scientific Director of the Sloan-Kettering Institute in New York , the leading cancer research centre in the world, at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre. The Catalan scientist has been chosen by an international expert committee and will take office on the 1^st of January 2014. Massagué will combine his new job with that of Adjunct Director of Barcelona’s Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB), a task he took over in 2006 when the IRB was founded. The President and CEO of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Craig B. Thomson , said that Massagué had been given the job for his “exemplarity as a scientist” and because he is an “international leader” in the study of metastasis and factors regulating cell growth . Until now Massagué  has been leading “the Sloan-Kettering Institute’s Cell Biology Program and its Cancer Biology and Genetics Program, successively – and brilliantly – even as his own research was advancing”, explained Thomson. In this regard, he added he was “delighted” that the Catalan doctor would now lead the entire research of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering (MSKCC). This announcement follows last year’s appointment of another Catalan Doctor, Josep Baselga, as the Physician-in-Chief of the Memorial-Sloan-Kettering. Since the 1^st of January 2013, Baselga has been directing a team of 834 doctors who look after 123,000 cancer patients a year. He has been in charge of patient care delivery and medical strategic planning, as well as leading clinical and translational research programmes. Baselga has successfully combined his latest functions in New-York with his duties in Barcelona, as the President of the Scientific Committee of the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO). This research institute, founded by Baselga, has become within a few years an international flagship in the research against cancer. Therefore, from next January onwards, two Catalans will be leading the world’s main cancer research centre in New York.

Joan Massagué (Barcelona, 1953) described his appointment as the new Sloan-Kettering Institute’s Director an “incredible honour”. He stated he was proud to be given the opportunity to lead the Sloan-Kettering Institute and “to serve in the fight against cancer”. “We have many of the best researchers in the world and one of the best programmes in the country. Hopefully I can work towards cultivating this rich diversity of research fields in order to improve treatment research, education and patient care” commented the Catalan doctor.

Massagué will continue with his work in Barcelona

Masagué, who was already working in the New York hospital, plans to continue with his work developed in the Catalan capital. His current duties at IRB Barcelona are focused on assessing the management of the scientific potential, contributing to increasing the quality of the research, attracting new leaders and scientific resources, and strengthening institutional relations at the local and international level.

Another Catalan is MSKCC’s Physician-in-Chief

Last January, Dr. Josep Baselga was appointed Physician-in-Chief of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering for being a “dedicated clinician and a distinguished researcher”, according to CEO Craig B.Thomson. Baselga had worked as the Chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and as the Associate Director of the MGH Cancer Centre. He was also the former President of the European Society for Medical Oncology, has served on the Board of Directors of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) as well as the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). At the time of his appointment he was the author or co-author of over 300 peer-reviewed articles and publications, and one of the founding editors-in-chief (with Lewis C. Cantley) of the AACR’s new journal Cancer Discovery. He has received numerous awards and honours, among them ASCO’s Young Investigator and Career Development Awards and the Rosenthal Family Award from the AACR.