Memorial Sloan-Kettering in New York appoints Josep Baselga
Baselga is also Physician-in-Chief at the Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO) in Barcelona and Chief of the Division of Oncology/Hematology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
By Biocat
The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital of New York, one of the top cancer research centers in the world, has appointed Josep Baselga Physician-in-Chief. Dr. Baselga will manage patient care at the hospital and clinics and oversee clinical and translational research, leading a staff of approximately 834 physicians. He succeeds Robert E. Wittes in this position, who announced in August 2011 his intention to step down at the end of this year after serving for a decade as the hospital’s Physician-in-Chief.
Baselga will combine this responsibility with his work at the Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO) in Barcelona and the Division of Oncology/Hematology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), which is linked to Harvard University.
"We are fortunate to have recruited a leader with the vision, skill, and experience to work with us during this exciting new period of growth and development across our range of clinical programs," says Memorial Sloan-Kettering President and CEO Craig B. Thompson.
Baselga says, "One of today’s major challenges in clinical oncology is translating as rapidly as possible findings made in the laboratory into effective therapies for patients and Memorial Sloan-Kettering is uniquely positioned to do this – and at a time when the opportunities in cancer research and treatment have never been greater."
In addition to Josep Baselga, another prestigious Catalan scientist has links to this organization, Dr. Joan Massagué, who has headed up the Sloan-Kettering Institute Cancer Biology and Genetics Program since 2003.
Baselga, who holds a PhD from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, is one of the top cancer researchers and has focused his studies on breast cancer and written more than 300 articles and publications. He formerly served as President of the European Society for Medical Oncology and has served on the Board of Directors of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). He is also a founding editor-in-chief of the AACR’s new journal, Cancer Discovery.
More information is available on the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital website.