IdiPAZ-CNIO Pediatric Onco-Hematology Clinical Research Unit

Antonio Pérez Head of Clinical Research Unit
T +34 917328000 (Ext )
anperezm@ext.cnio.es

Research Scientists

Víctor Galán
Ana Lourdes Luis
Isabel Martínez

Post-Doctoral Fellows

Cristina Aguirre
Alfonso Alba
Halin Bareke
María José Felgueres
Elisa Pilar Izquierdo
Wing Hong Kwan
Adriana Mañas
Jordi Minguillón
Andrés París

Graduate Students

Karima Al Akioui
Paula Carpizo
Laura Clares
Marta de la Hoz
María Octavia de Santisteban
Esther Díaz Maroto
Ana García
Adrián Ibáñez
Marta Ibáñez
Miriam Ibarra
Alicia Martín
Andrea Matesanz
Silvia Molina
Sara Naharro
Beatriz Ruz
Clara Venegas

Technicians

Estefania Ayala
Beatriz García
Lidia Pertiñez
Andrea Belén Romero
Marta Sanz

Among the challenges limiting treatment success in paediatric and adolescent cancer patients are the scarcity and fragmentation of clinical trials. This hinders recruitment and the generation of robust data, compounded by limited interest from the pharmaceutical industry. We aim to develop clinical trials with advanced, innovative, and disruptive therapies, providing a genuine lifeline for children who otherwise have no remaining therapeutic options. We conduct cutting-edge research with direct clinical impact to improve childhood cancer prognosis by minimising side effects, designing novel therapies, or refining existing ones.

Our research lines include:

Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation as a platform for cell therapy.
Improvement of human stem cell progenitor transplantation.
Adoptive immunotherapy with memory T lymphocytes.
CAR-T and activated memory-like NK cells in paediatric oncology.
Efficacy and feasibility of cell therapy against infectious diseases.
Immunological tolerance induction by mixed chimerism through cell therapy in solid organ transplantation.

Recent publications

Mestre-Durán C, León-Triana O, Bareke H, Pertíñez L, Clares-Villa L, Bueno D, Lozano-Ojalvo D, Navarro-Zapata A, Sisinni L, Badell-Serra I, González-Vicent M, Beléndez C, Palomo-Moraleda P, Mozo Y, Galán V, Artázcoz MF, Echecopar C, Gasior M, Al-Akioui K, Cano-Ochando J, Guerra-García P, Fernández-Santos ME, Aguirre-Portolés C, Pérez-Martínez A. (2025). Ex Vivo IL-15-Stimulated NK Cells as Adoptive Cell Therapy in Haploidentical Transplantation for Pediatric Leukemia. Am J Hematol 100, 1898-1901. CNIO Publication.
Ramírez MJ, Pujol R, Minguillón J, Bogliolo M, Persico I, Cavero D, de la Cal A, Río P, Navarro S, Casado JA, Bailador A, de la Fuente AS, de Heredia ML, Almazán F, Antelo ML, Argilés B, Badell I, Baragaño M, Beléndez C, Bermúdez M, Bernués M, Buedo MI, Carrasco E, Català A, Costa D, Cuesta I, Fernandez-Delgado R, Fernández-Teijeiro A, Figuera Á, García M, Gondra A, González M, Muñiz SG, Hernández-Rodríguez I, Ibañez F, Kelleher NJ, Lendínez F, López M, López-Almaraz R, Marchante I, Mendoza C, Nieto J, Ojeda E, Payán-Pernía S, Peláez I, de Soto IP, Portugal R, Ramos-Arroyo MA, Regueiro A, Rodríguez A, Rosell J, Saez R, Sánchez J, Sánchez M, Senent M, Tapia M, Trujillo-Quintero JP, Vagace JM, Verdú-Amorós J, Verdugo V, Vidales I, Villarreal J, Díaz-de-Heredia C, Sevilla J, Bueren JA, Surrallés J. (2025). Prognostic significance of mutation type and chromosome fragility in Fanconi anemia. Am J Hematol 100, 272-284. CNIO Publication.
González-Martínez B, Galán-Gómez V, Navarro-Zapata A, Mirones-Aguilar I, Cobo M, Pernas-Sánchez A, Vallejo S, Sánchez-Zapardiel E, León-Triana O, Echecopar C, Martínez-Romera I, Guerra-García P, San Román-Pacheco S, Escudero A, Izquierdo E, Izquierdo M, Naharro S, Martín-Ayuso A, Bareke H, París-Muñoz A, Hu P, Schneider D, Orentas RJ, Minguillón J, Pérez-Martínez A. (2025). Tandem CD19/CD22 CAR T-cells as potential therapy for children and young adults with high-risk r/r B-ALL. EBioMedicine 118, 105872. CNIO Publication.
Radke K, Aaltonen K, Muciño-Olmos EA, Esfandyari J, Adamska A, Siaw JT, Adamic D, Lago C, Mañas A, Seger A, Hansson K, Rogova O, Lehn S, Mason DJ, O'Donovan DJ, Roberts I, Lock A, Brennan J, Pietras K, Davies EJ, Spégel P, Bedoya-Reina OC, Brown D, Thompson NT, Spadoni C, Bexell D. (2025). Repurposing statins and phenothiazines to treat chemoresistant neuroblastoma. EMBO Mol Med (in press). CNIO Publication.
Tirado N, Fidyt K, Mansilla MJ, Garcia-Perez A, Martínez-Moreno A, Vinyoles M, Alcain J, García-Peydró M, Roca-Ho H, Fernandez-Fuentes N, Guerrero-Murillo M, Falgàs A, Velasco-Hernandez T, Bueno C, Panelli P, Mulens-Arias V, Apostolov A, Engel P, González EA, Vick B, Jeremias I, Caye-Eude A, Baruchel A, Cavé H, Genescà E, Ribera J, Díaz-Beyá M, Martínez-Sánchez MV, Fuster JL, Escudero López A, Minguillón J, Pérez-Martínez A, Ramírez-Orellana M, Torrebadell M, Díaz VM, Toribio ML, Sánchez-Martínez D, Menéndez P. (2025). CAR-T cells targeting CCR9 and CD1a for the treatment of T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. J Hematol Oncol 18, 69. CNIO Publication.
Ortega-García JA, Shakeel O, Wood NM, Pérez-Martínez A, Fuster-Soler JL, Miller MD. (2025). Beyond Precision: Ambiomic Survivorship in Childhood and AYA Cancer. Cancers 18, 7. CNIO Publication.
Perez-Martinez A, Lastra Rodrigo A, Ramos Boluda E, Gonzalez Martinez B, Alcolea Sánchez A, Hernandez Oliveros F. (2025). Tabelecleucel in Post-transplant Epstein-Barr Virus-Associated Lymphoproliferative Disease: Patient and Oncologist Perspectives. Adv Ther 42, 3011-3019. CNIO Publication.
Anguera G, Gallego O, Llobet M, Berga N, Moreno-Martinez ME, Leon X, Kratz C, Garcia-Escudero R, Minguillón J, Surrallés J. (2025). Opening of a phase Ib/II study to investigate the safety and efficacy of Afatinib in patients with Fanconi anemia and unresectable locally advanced or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Bmc Cancer 25, 1374. CNIO Publication.
González-Pérez C, Fernández-Jiménez E, Moran E, Melero H, Malpica N, Álvarez-Linera J, Alonso Puig M, Plaza D, Pérez-Martínez A (2025). Study protocol for a randomized controlled clinical trial of a multifaceted cognitive training program using video games in childhood cancer survivors. PLoS One 20, e0314118. CNIO Publication.
Galán-Gómez V, González-Martínez B, Alonso-Saladrigues A, Rives S, Herrero B, Kwon M, Sánchez-Pina J, Minguillón J, Martínez-Romera I, Mirones Aguilar I, Mestre-Durán C, Casado G, Sánchez-Martín M, Echecopar C, González-Pérez C, León-Triana O, Aguirre-Portolés C, Molinos-Quintana Á, Barba P, Balsalobre P, Pérez-Martínez A. (2025). Siltuximab for the treatment of early complications after chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children, adolescents, and young adults. Exp Hematol Oncol 14, 49. CNIO Publication.
París-Muñoz A, Alcobendas-Rueda RM, Verdú-Sánchez C, Udaondo C, Galán-Gómez V, González-Martínez B, Menéndez JJ, Martínez-Romera I, Minguillón J, Pertíñez L, de Manuel-Gómez C, de la Cruz-Benito A, Sanz-Rupérez A, Remesal A, Cámara C, Sánchez-Zapardiel E, Del Pino-Molina L, Gómez-Zamora A, Serrano-Olmedo MG, Español-Rego M, Ruiz de Valbuena M, Climent F, Dorao P, Ríos-Blanco JJ, Andrade JD, Ruiz-Zurita G, Fernández-García MA, Pérez-Martínez A. (2025). CD19 CAR-T cell therapy in a pediatric patient with MDA5+ dermatomyositis and rapidly progressive interstitial lung disease. Med 6, 100676. CNIO Publication.
Chen Z, Inague A, Kaushal K, Fazeli G, Schilling D, Xavier da Silva TN, Dos Santos AF, Cheytan T, Freitas FP, Yildiz U, Viviani LG, Lima RS, Pinz MP, Medeiros I, Iijima TS, Alegria TGP, Pereira da Silva R, Diniz LR, Weinzweig S, Klein-Seetharaman J, Trumpp A, Mañas A, Hondal R, Bartenhagen C, Fischer M, Shimada BK, Seale LA, Chillon TS, Fabiano M, Schomburg L, Schweizer U, Netto LE, Meotti FC, Dick TP, Alborzinia H, Miyamoto S, Friedmann Angeli JP. (2024). PRDX6 contributes to selenocysteine metabolism and ferroptosis resistance. Mol Cell (in press). CNIO Publication.
Miera-Maluenda M, Pérez-Torres M, Mañas A, Rubio-San-Simón A, Butjosa-Espín M, Ruiz-Duran P, Seoane JA, Moreno L, Segura MF. (2024). Advances in the approaches used to repurpose drugs for neuroblastoma. Expert Opin Drug Discov 19, 1309-1319. CNIO Publication.
Ruiz-Navarro J, Fernández-Hermira S, Sanz-Fernández I, Barbeito P, Navarro-Zapata A, Pérez-Martínez A, Garcia-Gonzalo FR, Calvo V, Izquierdo Pastor M. (2024). Formin-like 1β phosphorylation at S1086 is necessary for secretory polarized traffic of exosomes at the immune synapse in Jurkat T lymphocytes. Elife (in press). CNIO Publication.
Ibáñez-Navarro M, Fernández A, Escudero A, Esteso G, Campos-Silva C, Navarro-Aguadero MÁ, Leivas A, Caracuel BR, Rodríguez-Antolín C, Ortiz A, Navarro-Zapata A, Mestre-Durán C, Izquierdo M, Balaguer-Pérez M, Ferreras C, Martínez-López J, Valés-Gómez M, Pérez-Martínez A, Fernández L (2024). NKG2D-CAR memory T cells target pediatric T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in vitro and in vivo but fail to eliminate leukemia initiating cells. Front Inmmunol 14, . CNIO Publication.
Felgueres MJ, Esteso G, García-Jiménez ÁF, Dopazo A, Aguiló N, Mestre-Durán C, Martínez-Piñeiro L, Pérez-Martínez A, Reyburn HT, Valés-Gómez M (2024). BCG priming followed by a novel interleukin combination activates Natural Killer cells to selectively proliferate and become anti-tumour long-lived effectors. Sci Rep 14, 13133. CNIO Publication.
Gasior Kabat M, Li Y, Galán V, Mozo Y, Sisinni L, Bueno-Sánchez D, Corral D, Naik S, Echecopar C, Aguirre-Portolés C, Al-Akioui-Sanz K, De Paz R, Marcos A, Romero AB, Talleur A, Yuste VJ, Triplett B, Pérez-Martínez A. (2024). Safety and Efficacy of High-Dose Memory CD45RO+ Donor Lymphocyte Infusion in Pediatric Recipients after Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation. Cytotherapy 26, 1458-1464. CNIO Publication.
Yao Q, Mañas A, Beatty E, Dos Santos ACM, Zhou Y, Juárez O, Chen H, Xiang J. (2024). Alternative production of pro-death Bax∆2 protein via ribosomal frameshift in Alzheimer’s disease. Sci Rep 14, 27288. CNIO Publication.
Hernández-Blanco C, Al-Akioui-Sanz K, Herrera L, Aguirre-Portolés C, Lozano-Ojalvo D, Pérez-Rodriguez L, Cano-Ochando J, Guerra-García P, Martín-Quirós A, Vicario JL, Santos S, Pérez-Vaquero MÁ, Vesga MÁ, Borobia AM, Carcas AJ, Balas A, Moreno MÁ, Pérez de Diego R, Gasior M, Soria B, Eguizabal C, Pérez-Martínez A. (2024). The phase I RELEASE clinical trial to evaluate the safety of NK cells in COVID-19. iScience 28, 111698. CNIO Publication.
Mingot-Castellano ME, García-Donas G, Campos-Álvarez RM, de Mora MCF, Luis-Navarro J, Domínguez-Rodríguez JF, Del Mar Nieto-Hernández M, Sánchez-Bazán I, Yera-Cobo M, Cardesa-Cabrera R, Jiménez-Gonzalo FJ, Caparrós-Miranda I, Entrena-Ureña L, Herrera SJ, Fernández Jiménez D, Díaz-Canales D, Moreno-Carrasco G, Calderón-Cabrera C, Núñez-Vázquez RJ, Pedrote-Amador B, Jiménez Bárcenas R; Grupo Andaluz de Coagulopatías (GACC). (2024). Use of Eltrombopag to Improve Thrombocytopenia and Tranfusion Requirement in Anti-CD19 CAR-T Cell-Treated Patients. J Clin Med 13, 6294. CNIO Publication.
París-Muñoz A, León-Triana O, Pérez-Martínez A, Barber DF (2023). Helios as a potential biomarker in systemic lupus erythematosus and new therapies based on immunosuppressive cells. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES 25, 452. CNIO Publication.