Contact
In a long interview with the newspaper ARA, Joan Massagué, director of the Sloan Kettering Institute of New York (USA), explains that “in 20 years we will be able to cure 80-90% of cancers; this figure is currently around 60%".
Massagué also points out that treatments are being greatly improved. The researcher says that immunotherapy and many other new therapies are much more targeted to the malignant cell. “We are also learning how to use chemotherapy in such a way as to cause fewer side effects.”
Joan Massagué, linked to IRB Barcelona since its foundation and current member of the External Advisory Board states that “IRB performs cutting-edge research with an international impact, based on meritocracy.” Massagué considers that “science should be governed by meritocracy.” In this regard, he believes that “the academic structure of public servants in universities is incompatible with the flexibility required nowadays to manage research, to attract new talent, and to foster mobility.”
The scientist criticises the Spanish Government’s cuts in science and applauds the management of science from Catalonia, stating, “the Catalan government has protected science from the cutbacks.” Finally, Massagué also talks about the political process underway in Catalonia and describes it as “an interesting historical moment.”
Read the whole interview with Joan Massagué in ARA (PDF).
About IRB Barcelona
The Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) pursues a society free of disease. To this end, it conducts multidisciplinary research of excellence to cure cancer and other diseases linked to ageing. It establishes technology transfer agreements with the pharmaceutical industry and major hospitals to bring research results closer to society, and organises a range of science outreach activities to engage the public in an open dialogue. IRB Barcelona is an international centre that hosts 400 researchers and more than 30 nationalities. Recognised as a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence since 2011, IRB Barcelona is a CERCA centre and member of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST).
