Dr Joan Carles, MD, PhD, received his M.D degree in Medicine and Surgery in 1987 from the Universidad de Barcelona (Spain) and obtained his PhD from the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona in 1992. He completed his speciality training in Medical Oncology at the Hospital Universitario Germans Trias i Pujol in Badalona (Spain) and in 1996 received the European Certificate in Medical Oncology in Vienna.

In 1991 he joined the Medical Oncology Unit at the Hospital de Terrassa and from April 1992 to September 2008 he worked as a medical oncologist at the Hospital del Mar in Barcelona. In September 2008 he joined the Oncology Department of Vall d’Hebron University Hospital as Head of the Genitourinary, Central Nervous System, Sarcoma and Tumours of unknown origin Unit.

Dr Joan Carles is co-founder and secretary of the Spanish Society for the Treatment of Genitourinary Cancer (SOGUG), member of the Spanish Society of Head and Neck Tumours (CTT) as well as member of the Spanish Sarcoma Research Group (GEIS). He is part-time professor of Medicine at the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona since 1995 and coordinator of the Medical Oncology training programme.

Dr Carles has authored approximately more than 70 articles and more than 100 presentations in congresses and book chapters.

His research interests are clinical genitourinary oncology, sarcoma and early and translational clinical research in genetic polymorphisms as well as angiogenesis, as targets in cancer therapy. He also coordinates multicentre national clinical trials for new drugs in the treatment of prostate, kidney and bladder cancer.

In addition, Dr Carles is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), member of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) and member of the Spanish Association of Medical Oncology (SEOM). He acts as a consultant in an advisory capacity for the preparation and development for the Oncological Guidelines for the government of Catalunya (Oncoguies Catsalut).