Carlos Henrique Barrios

Carlos Henrique Barrios, MD is one of Latin America's most prominent medical oncologists and a transformative figure in building clinical research infrastructure for cancer in the region. As the founder and director of LACOG (Latin American Cooperative Oncology Group), he created the organizational architecture that enables Latin American cancer centers to participate in and lead high-quality clinical trials—an essential step in ensuring that the patients most burdened by cancer in the region contribute to and benefit from the global evidence base. LACOG has coordinated over 150 clinical trials enrolling patients across Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, and other Latin American nations, addressing breast cancer, gastrointestinal cancers, genitourinary cancers, and lung cancer with protocols specifically designed to address regional epidemiology and healthcare access realities. Dr. Barrios is an internationally recognized expert in HER2-positive breast cancer, having participated in seminal trials including those establishing trastuzumab, pertuzumab, and T-DM1 as standards of care, and he has been a prominent voice advocating for affordable biosimilar access so that these life-extending therapies are available beyond high-income markets. He has served on ASCO Board of Directors, international guideline committees, and WHO expert panels on cancer medicines access. His research on the real-world patterns of breast cancer treatment in Brazil—documenting the dramatic disparities in outcomes between patients treated in public (SUS) versus private health systems—has generated crucial evidence for health policy debates about universal cancer care in Brazil. He has trained dozens of oncology fellows who now lead cancer programs throughout Latin America.