José Baselga

José Baselga, MD, PhD was one of the most influential oncologists of his generation, renowned for his pioneering work on HER2-targeted therapy and early-phase clinical trials in breast and solid tumors. As Physician-in-Chief at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and subsequently Chief Medical Officer at AstraZeneca, he bridged academic early-phase trial innovation with industry drug development at the highest level. Dr. Baselga led landmark phase I and II trials of trastuzumab, pertuzumab, and lapatinib in HER2-positive breast cancer, work that directly contributed to FDA approvals of these agents. He also led early-phase development of PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway inhibitors, contributing foundational pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic data that informed the design of subsequent pivotal trials. His lab at Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO) in Barcelona, which he co-founded, became a world-leading site for first-in-human trials. Dr. Baselga was instrumental in establishing RECIST criteria and novel response endpoints in early-phase trials, and championed the integration of serial tumor biopsies and pharmacodynamic biomarkers as mandatory correlative studies in phase I programs.