Research Team
START San Antonio
Drew W. Rasco, M.D.
Dr. Drew W. Rasco is the Associate Director of Clinical Research at START. He is board-certified in both Hematology and Oncology. He completed medical school in 2003 at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio, TX. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA. He followed this with fellowships in Hematology and Oncology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX.
Dr. Rasco’s major interest is in the development of new anticancer agents, with a special interest in malignancies of the gastrointestinal tract and lungs.
Dr. Rasco is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). He was a recipient of the Resident Achievement Award from Emory University. He and his partners at START have led an extensive number of phase I clinical trials, including those that eventually led to the FDA approvals of pembrolizumab, cemiplimab, abemaciclib, copanlisib, and others. Most recently, he served as the principal investigator for the combination of lenvatinib and pembrolizumab, which received FDA approval for endometrial (uterine) cancer in 2019.
Kyriakos P. Papadopoulos, M.D.
Dr. Kyriakos P. Papadopoulos is the Co-Director of Clinical Research at START in San Antonio, Texas. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Medical Oncology & Hematology. His clinical interests include drug development and malignancies of the upper gastrointestinal-tract and lungs. Dr. Papadopoulos completed his MBBCh and MSc (Med) at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and his specialty training in Internal Medicine at Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South
Africa. He followed this with a fellowship in Medical Oncology and Hematology at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, NY. He served as the Florence Irving Assistant Professor of Medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, where he was co-director of the GI and Lung Tumor Clinic.
Dr. Papadopoulos was appointed Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. A senior clinical investigator at the Cancer Therapy & Research Center’s (CTRC) Institute for Drug Development, San Antonio, TX , he was also a member of the CTRC’s Medical Executive Committee before his departure to co-found START.
He received a Career Development Award from the National Institute of Health, as well as the Anna-Maria Kellen Clinical Investigator Award of the Cancer Research Institute for immunotherapy research. He is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Society of Hematology, the American Association for Cancer Research and a Fellow of the College of Physicians of South Africa.
Amita Patnaik, M.D., FRCP(C)
Dr. Amita Patnaik is an internationally recognized Medical Oncologist and co-founder of START in San Antonio, Texas. She is the Co-Director of Clinical Research at START and is the Director of the START Fellowship program. Her clinical interests include Phase I drug development and malignancies of the breast and colorectum.
Dr. Patnaik is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada and a Diplomate of the American Board
of Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology. Dr. Patnaik is an alumnus of the University of Toronto in Toronto, Canada where she graduated with honors and thereafter, performed her residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Medical Oncology. She then performed an advanced research fellowship in Anticancer-drug development at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and subsequently spent 7 years as attending staff physician and senior clinical investigator at the Cancer Therapy and Research Center’s (CTRC) Institute for Drug Development. While at the CTRC she was also Associate Director of clinical research and Fellowship program director.
Dr. Patnaik has pioneered the development of over 20 new anticancer drugs approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration in the past 20 years, including pembrolizumab, abemaciclib and copanlisib. She is currently the principal investigator/co-investigator of over 60 early phase clinical trials of novel anticancer agents for patients with advanced cancer. She is considered to be a key opinion leader in her field and sits on the Scientific advisory boards of many innovative biotechnology companies. She has served as an advisor to the FDA and is routinely asked to speak at major international Oncology conferences. She has been a member of the Scientific program committee for the American Society of Clinical Oncology and serves as a scientific reviewer for many prestigious scientific journals. Dr. Patnaik has authored and co-authored over 90 peer-reviewed publications of original cancer research in internationally respected scientific journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, the Lancet and Cancer Discovery.
Dr. Patnaik is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Association for Cancer Research. Dr. Patnaik is a clinical adjunct faculty member of the University of Texas at Austin and holds the title of Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine. She mentors medical students, graduate and post-graduate students and serves as a preceptor for high school students.
Dr. Patnaik is the recipient of the San Antonio Business Journal’s prestigious “40 under 40” Award in 2001, and the Healthcare Heroes Award in 2012. She was inducted into the San Antonio women’s Hall of Fame in 2013 for her contribution to the field of science and technology.
START Midwest
Nehal J. Lakhani, M.D., PhD
Dr. Nehal Lakhani serves as the Director of Clinical research at START-Midwest and is a Medical Oncologist based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He completed his medical training at Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, India in 2000. Following the completion of his medical training, he pursued a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences focusing on Pharmacokinetics and early phase drug development of oncology drugs at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, MD. He was also a Fogarty Fellow at
the National Institutes of Health between the years 2001 through 2005. He subsequently pursued training in Internal Medicine at Michigan State University and completed a Medical Oncology/Hematology fellowship at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD. He has also served as the National Cancer Institute - FDA Interagency Oncology Task Force Fellow for two years, which gave him the opportunity to work in the Division of Hematology/Oncology Products at the FDA and reviewed oncology drug applications submitted by pharmaceutical sponsors.
His clinical research interests include early phase drug development and clinical pharmacology trials for solid tumor malignancies. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Medical Oncology, and Hematology. He has been involved in the development of several new anticancer therapies including immunotherapy agents, antibody drug conjugates, and targeted therapies. Dr. Lakhani has co-authored several peer reviewed publications in oncology drug development and is a reviewer of several oncology journals.
Manish R. Sharma, M.D.
Dr. Manish Sharma is the Associated Director of Clinical Research at START Midwest and is a medical oncologist in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He graduated with honors from the University of Michigan Medical School in 2004. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the University of California – San Francisco, where he also served as chief resident. He completed a combined fellowship training in Hematology/Oncology and Clinical Pharmacology & Pharmacogenomics at the University of Chicago.
He subsequently spent six years on the faculty as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago, where he had a Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health and was very involved in the teaching and mentorship of trainees. Dr. Sharma developed expertise in oncology drug development, gastrointestinal cancers, clinical pharmacology, pharmacogenomics, and pharmacometrics. He is board certified in Medical Oncology and Clinical Pharmacology.
Dr. Sharma joined START Midwest and Cancer & Hematology Centers of Western Michigan in 2018. Throughout his clinical oncology practice, Dr. Sharma has specialized in the treatment of gastrointestinal cancers. His clinical research interests include early phase drug development and clinical pharmacology trials for patients with advanced solid tumors. He has been the principal investigator on more than 25 phase I clinical trials involving immunotherapies, targeted therapies, chemotherapy, antibody-drug conjugates, drug-drug interactions, and food effect. He has co-authored more than 20 peer-reviewed papers related to oncology drug development, and has served as a reviewer for many oncology and clinical pharmacology journals.
Sreenivasa R. Chandana, M.D., PhD
Dr. Sreenivasa (Sree) Chandana is a clinical investigator at START Midwest and director of GI/GU medical oncology research at Cancer and Hematology Centers of Western Michigan in Grand Rapids, MI. After graduating from medical school in India, Dr. Chandana completed his Ph.D., in pharmacology from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. He was the recipient of the Thomas B. Rumble fellowship during his graduate training. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at McLaren Regional
Medical Center/MSU program in Flint, MI, where he also served as chief resident. He completed a combined fellowship training in Hematology/Medical Oncology at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, in East Lansing, MI. During his fellowship, he was selected for the prestigious AACR molecular biology award in clinical oncology workshop. He was also involved in pre-clinical research for pancreatic cancer.
After graduation he practiced hematology and medical oncology and was involved in resident teaching and clinical research in Kalamazoo, MI. He was awarded the NCI silver award for clinical trial enrollment. He also received best teaching faculty award from Western Michigan University School of Medicine in 2014. Subsequently, he joined Cancer and hematology Centers of Western Michigan and START Midwest in Grand Rapids, MI in 2016. Dr. Sreenivasa specializes in the treatment of gastrointestinal and genitourinary cancers. His clinical research interests include drug development and clinical pharmacology trials for patients with advanced solid tumors. He has been the clinical investigator for several early and late phase clinical trials involving immunotherapies, targeted therapies, chemotherapy, antibody-drug conjugates, drug-drug interactions, and pharmacogenomics. He is currently an assistant professor at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Lansing, MI and also at Western Michigan University, in Kalamazoo, MI. He has authored several peer-reviewed papers related to hematology and oncology, drug development, and is currently involved in teaching medical residents and students.
Timothy J. O’Rourke, M.D., FACP
Dr. Timothy O'Rourke is a Senior Clinical Investigator at START Midwest and a Medical Oncologist in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1976. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship training in Hematology/Oncology at Madigan Army Medical Center, completing a twenty year career in the U.S. Army Medical Corps achieving the rank of Colonel in 1996. While in the military he was Chief of Medical Oncology and Director of the
Brooke Army Medical Center. Since retirement and relocation to Grand Rapids, he has remained active in clinical research and helped develop the Phase I program at START Midwest. In his clinical oncology practice, he specializes in the treatment of Benign Hematology, CNS cancers and Sarcoma.
START Mountain Region
Justin A. Call, M.D.
Justin A. Call, MD, is the Director of Clinical Research at START Mountain Region in Salt Lake City, Utah. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Utah, and his medical degree from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, Colorado. During his academic training, Dr. Call was elected to numerous honor societies, including the Golden Key Honor Society, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, and the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.
Dr. Call completed residency training in Internal Medicine and fellowship training in Hematology and Medical Oncology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. He is board certified in Hematology and Medical Oncology. Dr. Call’s clinical interests include drug development of new anticancer agents, with a special interest in gynecologic cancers and hematologic malignancies. He has been the principal investigator / co-investigator of over 50 cancer clinical trials. Dr. Call is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Society of Hematology, and the American Association for Cancer Research.
Stephan DiSean Kendall, M.D.
Stephan DiSean Kendall, MD, is a Clinical Investigator at START Mountain Region in Salt Lake City, Utah. He earned his medical degree from Albany Medical Center of Albany, NY. He completed a residency in internal medicine and fellowship in hematology and medical oncology at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC, where he went on to serve as an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Medical Oncology and the Department of Internal Medicine. He is board certified in internal medicine and medical oncology.
START Madrid
Dr. Kendall’s clinical interests include drug development with a special interest in gastrointestinal cancers. He has been the principal investigator/co-investigator of over 40 clinical trials of novel anticancer agents or novel combinations of anticancer agents for patients with advanced cancer. Dr. Kendall is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Emiliano Calvo, M.D.
Dr. Calvo earned his Medical Degree in 1993 at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in Madrid, Spain and his PhD in 2003 at the Universidad de Navarra in Pamplona, Spain. He trained in Medical Oncology at the Clínica Universitaria de Navarra in Pamplona, Spain and completed his Advanced Fellowship in Drug Development at the Cancer Therapy & Research Center’s Institute for Drug Development in San Antonio, Texas, from 2003 to 2005, where he was a Senior Fellow and Clinical Investigator.
While working in the Medical Oncology Department at the Hospital Vall d’Hebron in Barcelona, Spain, from 2005 to 2008, Dr. Calvo was Co-Director and Senior Researcher of the Phase I Unit and director of the Genitorurinary Tumors, Sarcoma and CNS Programs.
Dr. Calvo is the Director of START Madrid Group in Madrid, Spain and has been the Director of Clinical Research at START Madrid-Centro Integral Oncológico Clara Campal (CIOCC) hospital, in Madrid, Spain, since its launch in 2008. He is also the President of the non-profit organization Investigational Therapeutics in Oncological Sciences Foundation. In addition, he is an Associate Professor (Profesor Titular, ANECA) in Oncology, at University CEU San Pablo in Madrid, Spain, and Director of the Oncology PhD/Doctorate Program at Universidad CEU San Pablo.
Dr. Calvo is a member of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Faculty Group Principles of Clinical Trials and Systemic Therapy. He has been a member of the Scientific Committee of the ESMO annual meeting (2008, 2009, 2011, 2018-2020), also he has been a member of the Scientific Committee of the Targeted Agents Therapies (TAT) since 2018. The annual EORTC-NCI-AACR International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics appointed him as co-Chair of the Scientific Committee since 2019.
He is also co-Director of the ECCO-AACR-EORTC-ESMO International Workshop in Methods in Clinical Cancer Research. Also, Dr. Calvo has been a Track Leader and Committee member for the Scientific Program Committee on the Developmental Therapeutics – Clinical Pharmacology & Experimental Track of the Annual Meetings of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), as well as honorary member of the Cancer Education Committee of ASCO. Since 2018 he has been a member of the RECIST committee.
Dr. Calvo has co-authored 106 peer reviewed scientific articles, in addition to multiple chapters in oncology books, as well as several hundreds of international presentations at different major conferences and meetings, especially focusing on clinical development of new drugs in different tumor types. He serves as an ad-hoc reviewer of various oncology journals and has been appointed board editor for European Journal of Cancer and Investigational New Drugs and is a consultant and reviewer for different national cancer programs (Italy, UK, France). He is a panel expert advisor at multiple Advisory Boards of anticancer drug development and disease-specific cancer therapeutics. During the last 16 years of full dedication to Clinical Drug development in Oncology, he has participated in around two hundred international studies, as a clinical investigator, especially in Early Clinical Drug Development, and, during the last decade, especially focused on immunotherapy and targeted agents.
Valentina Boni, M.D.
Valentina Boni, M.D., Ph.D., is a Medical Oncologist and Principal Investigator of START Madrid – CIOCC. She is also Clinical Associated Professor of Medicine at the CEU University San Pablo, Madrid, Spain.
Valentina Boni earned her Medical Degree cum Laude in 2005 at the Catholic University of Rome, Italy. In November 2009 she completed her trainer in Medical Oncology at the Agostino Gemelli University Hospital in Rome, Italy.
From 2009 to 2011, she joined the Garcia-Foncillas’s Pharmacogenomic Program at the Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA), in Pamplona, Spain, as a Clinical Researcher working on translational oncology centered on predictive biomarkers discovery, solid tumor expression profiling and modulation of drug response. In 2009, she was awarded PhD from the University of Navarra for her work on the role of miRNAsas predictive biomarkers in metastatic colorectal cancer. In 2013, she joined the ECCO-AACR-EORTC-ESMO workshop on methods in clinical cancer research (Flims), Switzerland.
From 2011 till now, she has been working at START Madrid-CIOCC as a Clinical Investigator at the Early Drug Development Unit and she was involved in more than 100 Phase I clinical trials, including First in Human trial, immunotherapy trials, combinations of targeted therapies, immunotherapies, biomarker-driven trials, and trials in molecularly selected populations with special emphasis on breast cancer, gynecological tumors and melanoma.
She is currently the Principal Investigator/Co-Investigator of over 60 early phase clinical trials of novel anticancer agents for patients with advanced solid tumors and she has pioneered the development of new anticancer drugs now approved such as VITRAKVI® (larotrectinib). She has authored and co-authored several papers in peer-reviewed journals including the New England Journal of Medicine and Nature. She has been a Faculty Member for the American Society of Clinical Oncology and she is now coordinating the Molecular Tumor Board, centered on molecular analysis of patient tumors and molecular prescreening including circulating DNA and expression profiling by Nanostring in order to select the best anti-cancer therapy for any single patient and initiating the precision medicine in the field of immuno-oncology, with new aims in epigenetic and cancer stem cells.
Dr. Boni is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and of the European Society of Medical Oncology. She serves as an ad-hoc reviewer of various oncology journals and sits in the Scientific Advisory Board of innovative biotechnology companies. She is currently a member of the Scientific Program Committee for SOLTI Innovative Breast Cancer Research.
Maria J De Miguel, M.D.
Maria J de Miguel, M.D., Ph.D., is a Medical Oncologist and Principal Investigator of START Madrid-CIOCC. She is also a Clinical Associated Professor of Medicine at the CEU University San Pablo, Madrid, Spain.
Maria J de Miguel finished her medical training in 2007 at the Malaga University. In 2012 she completed her Medical Oncology Specialization at the Virgen del Rocío University Hospital (HUVR) with the highest qualifications.
During that time, she perfomed a Biomedical Research Master in the Biomedicine and Research Institute (IBIS Seville) and an internship in the Drug Development Unit of the Nederlands Kanker Instituut in Amsterdam, where she started being interested in Phase I clinical trials. After a couple of years working as a consultant in the Thoracic and Research Unit in the HUVR she decided to move to London in May 2014 to complete a fellowship in the Drug Development Unit of the Royal Marsden Hospital, directed by Prof. Johann de Bono. In 2015, she joined the ECCO-AACR-EORTC-ESMO workshop on methods in clinical cancer research (Flims), Switzerland. Also, in the same year she won the Bradley Stuart Merit Award for the highest-ranking abstract overall in the ASCO meeting. Back in Spain, she worked in the Gastrointestinal tumor unit of the National Research Cancer Center (CNIO) and afterwards was awarded her Phd in molecular laryngeal cancer biomarkers with Cum Laudedegree.
As of January 2017, she has been working at START Madrid-CIOCC as a Clinical Investigator at the Early Drug Development Unit. She has been involved in more than 100 Phase I clinical trials, including First in Human trial, immunotherapy trials, combinations of targeted therapies and immunotherapies, biomarker-driven trials, and trials in molecularly selected populations with special emphasis on gastrointestinal, head and neck, and thoracic tumors.
She is currently the Principal Investigator/Co-Investigator of over 60 early phase clinical trials of novel anticancer agents for patients with advanced solid tumors. She is authored and co-authored of several papers in peer-reviewed journals such as Annals of Oncology. Dr. de Miguel is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and of the European Society of Medical Oncology.
Irene Moreno, M.D.
Irene Moreno, M.D., is a Medical Oncologist and a Principal
Investigator of START Madrid-CIOCC.
Dr. Moreno earned her Medical Degree in 2011 at the University of Extremadura, Spain, having done her 3rd year of medicine in the University of Salamanca (2007/2008) and her 5th year in the University of Careggi in Florence, Italy (2009/2010); as part as two international student programs.
She also spent the Summer of 2008 doing an internship at Agia Sophia Hospital in Athens (Greece) in the area of pediatric oncology.
After completing her medical degree she spent two months volunteering in rural zones as a general doctor, in Zamora co., Ecuador (February-March, 2012). In 2017, she completed her training as a Medical Oncologist at the Fundación Jiménez Díaz Universitary Hospital, in Madrid (Spain).
Irene also had the opportunity during her training to join the Lank Center for Genitourinary Cancer in “Dana Farber Cancer Institute”, Boston, USA (April-September 2016) as a clinical fellow, participating in some of his lines of investigation, especially in bladder cancer. After finishing her training she was offered to join the Drug Development Unit in The Royal Marsden Hospital, based in Sutton, London (August 2017-August 2018).
Afterward, she returned to Fundación Jiménez Díaz Hospital to work as a consultant in the genitourinary area, collaborating, once again, with several investigational projects.
As of January 2019, Dr. Moreno has been working at START Madrid-CIOCC as a Clinical Investigator at the Early Drug Development Unit. She has been involved in more than 60 Phase I clinical trials; including First in Human trials, immunotherapy trials, targeted therapy trials, biomarker-driven trials, and trials in molecularly selected populations with special emphasis on sarcoma, genitourinary and head and neck tumors. She is currently working on her PhD, which started when she was a medical oncology trainee.
Dr. Moreno has authored and co-authored of several papers in peer-reviewed journals.Irene is also a member of the European Society of Medical Oncology and the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology.
Victor Moreno, M.D.
Victor Moreno, M.D., PhD is the Director of Clinical Research at START Madrid-FJD. He obtained this Medical Degree by the University Complutense of Madrid in 2004 and completed his specialized formation in Medical Oncology at Hospital Universitario La Paz during 2005 and 2009. During 2008-2010 he obtained his Masters Degree in Molecular Oncology by the CNIO (Spanish National Cancer Research Centre, Madrid). He obtained his PhD Doctorate, with European Mention and
highest commendation in 2013 for his translational research in rectal cancer.
Dr. Moreno obtained the Excellent Resident Grant, which was awarded to complete his training in Phase I oncology clinical trials in the Drug Development Unit of the Royal Marsden Hospital (Sutton, UK) during 2010-2011.
After the completion of his Fellowship, he returned to a Consultant position for Medical Oncology to the Hospital Universitario La Paz where he was a member of the Neuro-Oncology and Gastrointestinal Tumors section and coordinator of the Oncology Phase I Unit. In 2013 he joined the START program in the new center START Madrid-Fundación Jimenez Diaz (FJD) as a Clinical Researcher dedicated exclusively to early clinical trials and drug development with special focus on targeted therapies, cancer immunotherapy and adoptive cell therapy.
Dr. Moreno has been a recipient of several awards and grants including 2011 ASCO Merit Award and Grant in 2011 for the 13th Joint ECCO – AACR – EORTC – ESMO Workshop on “Methods in Clinical Cancer Research” and is a member of the Executive Committee of the +MIR group in the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM). He has co-authored more than 40 scientific papers published in the most relevant medical journals such as New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Clinical Cancer Research and Nature.
Bernard Doger, M.D.
Bernard Doger M.D., PhD is a Medical Oncologist and member of the medical team of the early phase clinical trials unit, START Madrid-FJD. He completed his medical studies at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.
From 2008-2012, he began his specialization in medical oncology at the Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro in Madrid.
Subsequently he worked as Regional Medical Liaison (RML) in the medical department of Celgene SL during the developmentof nab-paclitaxel, mainly focused in pancreatic cancer.
Dr. Doger obtained the masters degree in translational oncology from the National Center for Oncological Research (CNIO, Madrid) from 2012-2014. He obtained his PhD Doctorate, with highest commendation in 2019 for his translational research in cancer and targeted therapies by the Universidad San Pablo CEU, Madrid.
In 2015, he joined the START program at START Madrid-CIOCC. One year later, he joined the START Madrid-FJD as a Clinical Researcher dedicated exclusively to early clinical trials and drug development with special focus on targeted therapies, DNA repair, cancer immunotherapy, and adoptive cell therapy. Dr. Doger has been a member of the ethical committee of the Hospital Universitario Fundación Jimenez Díaz since January 2018. He is currently an active Investigator in more than 40 trials and has been co-author of several scientific papers published in medical journals.
Tatiana Hernandez-Guererro, M.D.
Tatiana Hernández-Guerrero M.D., is a Medical Oncologist fully dedicated to clinical research at START Madrid-FJD. She graduated as a Medical Doctor in Carabobo State University, in Venezuela in 2008, and then decided to pursue her specialist training program in Madrid, Spain. Upon completion, she entered the Medical Oncology Specialty Program at Fundación Jimenez Diaz University Hospital, where she would build the grounds for her career as a clinical researcher.
During the last year of her residency, Dr. Hernández had the opportunity to learn about DNA repair pathways and their implication in cancer biology during a 6-month stay at University of Michigan Cancer Center, under the supervision of Dr. Sofia Merajver MD PhD, where she developed a program for early detection and follow-up of patients at high risk of cancer that would later be put in practice at Fundación Jimenez Diaz UH.
Once completing her residency, and with the aspiration of furthering her career as an Investigator, Dr. Hernández moved to United Kingdom as a fully registered oncologist and completed a 1-year Clinical Research Fellowship focused in Early Phase Trials at Cambridge University Hospitals (Cambridge Institute of Oncology). During this training, she focused her work on DNA repair pathways and was able to collaborate in the design of her first Investigator Initiated Clinical Trial, supported by Cambridge Institute and under the supervision of Prof. Duncan Jodrell, gaining a valuable experience in the design of clinical trials and protocol-writing. She obtained a grant as a European Society of Medical Oncology Ambassador to participate in Methods in Clinical Cancer Research Workshop in 2017, learning the final basics in protocol development of early phase trials.
In November 2017, Dr. Hernández joined the START Program as a Clinical Researcher fully dedicated to Early Phase Trials, with focus on DNA-repair targeted therapies and immunotherapy in this setting. She is currently an active Investigator in more than 40 trials and has been a co-author of several scientific papers published in medical journals. Her most immediate plan is to complete her PhD Doctorate in Medicine which she is currently developing at Autonomous University of Madrid, under the direction and supervision of Dr. Victor Moreno and Dr. Jesús García-Foncillas.
Daniel Morillo, M.D.
Daniel Morillo M.D., is a Hematologist consultant dedicated to clinical research at START Madrid-FJD.He obtained his Medical Degree by the University Complutense of Madrid in 2009 and completed his specialized formation in Hematology and Hemotherapy at Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro, Madrid during 2010 and 2014.
Before finishing his residency, he spent two months in 2013 as Observer Physician,
in the Department of Bone Marrow Trasplantation at Memorial Sloan Kattering Cancer Center, New York. Upon completing his residency in 2014, he started a new challenge, creating and developing the Hematology Service at Hospital General de Villalba, Madrid.
In 2017, Dr. Morillo decided to focus his career in hemato-oncology clinical investigation and he joined the START Program as a Clinical Researcher dedicated to Early Phase Trials.
He is currently an active Investigator in more than 30 trials (both early phase and phase-3 trials), and has been a co-author of several scientific papers published in medical journals. He is also consultant at the Lymphoma and Myeloma Unit at Oncohealth Institute, Fundación Jiménez Díaz and a member of the Spanish Society of Hematology.