DNA MisMatch Repair Lab

Marta Pineda is a graduate in Biochemistry and a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Barcelona. Since August of 2004 Marta Pineda is part of the Molecular Diagnostics Unit of the Hereditary Cancer Program at the Catalan Institute of Oncology, where she has focused on genetic diagnosis and research of hereditary colorectal cancer.
Her knowledge as a specialized geneticist in hereditary cancer has allowed her to perform a research activity with high clinical translation, mainly focused on improving identification and risk assessment of individuals with mismatch repair deficient-associated syndromes (Lynch syndrome and CMMRD). Since 2012 she is a member of the Variation Interpretation Committee of the Insight (current Insight/ClinGen VCEP).
She has published 99 articles in peer-reviewed journals, 12 as first author and 11 as last and/or corresponding author (H-index: 28). During these years she has actively participated in 20 R&D projects financed by public entities. Since 2013 she has received continuous funding as principal investigator.
She has supervised five experimental Master works and four doctoral thesis. Currently she is co-supervising the doctoral thesis of three students.

Gabriel Capellá obtained his MD degree by the University of Barcelona in 1983. He trained as a general and digestive surgeon. His interest in translational cancer research lead him to a postdoctoral stay with Dr. Manuel Perucho the years 1989 and 1990 at La Jolla, USA.

Back to Spain he spent 8 years at the Gastrointestinal Research Laboratory at the Hospital de Sant Pau where he focused his research in the molecular basis of pancreatic and colorectal cancer. He was Director of the Translational Research Laboratory of the Catalan Institute until 2011 where he is now Director of the Hereditary Cancer Program, role that he combines with being head of the IDIBELL Hereditary Cancer group. He is also the coordinator of the CIBERONC’s Digestive Tract Tumors Research Program.

He has pioneered the implementation of cancer genetics units and molecular testing of hereditary cancer in Spain. His research projects are centered in the detection and clinical and molecular characterization of Lynch Syndrome and Familial Adenomatous Polyposis, also in the development of novel technologies for genetic analysis.

He is coauthor of more than 400 publications in international peer-reviewed journals and has co-founded the spinoff VCN Biosciences, aimed at the development of oncolytic virus-based therapies. He served as vice-director of Investigation and Innovation of the Catalonian Health Department from 2013 to 2016, when he was appointed Director of IDIBELL.

Paula Climent graduated in Biology and holds a MSc in Genetics and Genomics. After a short stay at the Beatson Institute in Glasgow, she joined the IRB Barcelona and IBMB-CSIC to study how the Drosophila embryonic linker histone represses the zygotic genome. Afterwards, she joined the University of Barcelona to study the effects of oxidative stress in tumor growth and on gene expression. She combined her research activity with teaching in the Genetics and Genomics master and in the Biology and Biomedical Sciences degrees. She Joined IDIBELL in 2022 where she combines basic and clinical research to characterize the molecular mechanisms underlying MLH1 constitutional epimutations. 

Fátima Marín studied Biology and a Master in Genetics at the University Autònoma of Barcelona and obtained her PhD in the same university, focused on the study of genetic susceptibility of gastric cancer. Afterwards, she completed a Master in Bioinformatics and Biostatistics and worked in different units of the Molecular Diagnostics of Hereditary Cancer, Biomarkers Research in Colorectal Cancer (ICO-IDIBELL), and Genomics (CRAG-CSIC). She joined the DNA Mismatch Repair Group in November 2016, as postdoctoral researcher, where she is involved in several projects focused on the research of the molecular basis of syndromes associated with mismatch repair deficiency and the development of improved strategies for the management of the patients.

Mireia Morell Ginestà (LLeida, 1973) holds a degree and a doctorate in Biology from the University of Barcelona. During her PhD she worked on the design of immunosuppressive guidelines in an animal model of hepatic xenotransplantation. Since September 2003 she has been working at the Institut Català d’Oncologia where her work has focused on participating in different types of translational studies in gastrointestinal tumors that gave her experience with wide range of molecular biology techniques. She also has experience in mice experimental models as in the surgical level as in the standard procedures.

Dr. Sara Crespo obtained her Bachelor´s degree in Biology at the University of Alcalá de Henares in 2011 and got her Master´s in Microbiology and Parasitology at the Complutense University in 2012. Before starting her PhD, she was shortly employed by the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly & Company, where she contributed to research activities related to drug discovery. Thereafter, she performed her PhD studies in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Brussels from 2014 to 2018, studying the role of connexin and pannexin channels as drug targets in liver fibrosis under the direction of Prof. Mathieu Vinken and Prof. Bruno Cogliati. She demonstrated the pathogenicity of connexin 43 and pannexin1 (hemi)channels during liver fibrosis.
In 2019, she returned to Spain as a Postdoctoral Researcher at Dr. Gabriel Capellá´s and Dr. Marta Pineda´s lab at IDIBELL, where she is currently developing an in vitro model by means of pluripotent stem cell-derived organoids to study mismatch repair deficient syndromes.

Núria Dueñas graduated in Medicine at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in 2010, specialization in Medical Oncology at the Hospital de Sant Pau between 2011 and 2016. Since 2017 she is working as a phisician at the Hereditary Cancer Unit of the ICO. She is specialized in syndromes of hereditary predisposition to digestive cancer, among others. She is currently working on genotype-phenotype correlation in Lynch syndrome, population CRC screening and polygenic risk score.

Manuel is graduated in Biotechnology and holds a masters degree in Health Biotechnology by University Pablo de Olavide (Seville). Currently he is PhD student in Hereditary Cancer Program (IDIBELL) associated to the Biomedicine PhD program (University of Barcelona).

Improving Genetic Testing

Marina Galán graduated in Biology by the University of Alcalá de Henares and holds a MSc in Genetics and Genomics by University of Barcelona. She joined the Hereditary Cancer program in 2023. Her work is currenlty focused on the validation of the clinical utility of highly sensitive microsatellite instability assessment in improving gynecologic follow-up strategies in Lynch syndrome. 

Oscar Mesía is graduated in Biological Systems Engineering by the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) and holds a master’s degree in molecular biotechnology by the Universitat de Barcelona (UB). Currently he is a PhD student in Hereditary Cancer group (IDIBELL). His work is focused on improving the identification and clinical management of Constitutional Mismatch Repair Deficiency Syndrome (CMMRD).