An exceptional partnership with a team of experts
Get to know your dedicated Oncology experts team that is committed to navigating the complexities of oncology clinical research and maximizing the impact of your product to the current global therapeutic landscape. Led by Dr. Isagani Chico, vice president and global therapeutic head of Oncology, our team of medical experts and consultants includes more than 60 oncology physicians with an average of 23 years of clinical practice or clinical research experience across Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific.
Our oncology experts
Marco Durini, MD, PhD
Senior Medical Director
Marco Durini, MD, PhD, is senior medical director of oncology for Fortrea, based in Milano, Italy. He brings more than 25 years of experience in clinical research for CRO and Pharma. Before joining the company, he held medic positions with Ipsen, Pfizer, Sanofi, Roche. His expertise in oncology ranges from biomarkers/precision medicine to immuno-target therapies and vaccines in solid and non-solid malignancies. Oncogenomics and Radiomics are latest areas of interest.
Dr. Durini is board certified medical doctor at the Milan physician registry, and hold a business school training mastership at the SDA Bocconi Milan. He received his medical degree with summa laude from the University of Milan in Italy, and a granted post-degree research fellowship at ICP - University of Milan. He is author of papers submitted to ESMO/ASCO congresses. He joined Fortrea (formerly Labcorp) early 2019.
Carolina Dutra, MD
Medical Director
Carolina Dutra, MD, is a Medical Director for Fortrea Clinical Development Services, based in Brazil. She is medical oncologist by training and provides clinical and medical expertise to project teams and other Fortrea departments to advance clients’ drug development programs. Dr. Dutra performs medical and safety monitoring on assigned projects, develops and reviews protocols, case report forms and other data and materials, and contributes to the scientific strategic leadership of the oncology area at Fortrea. Dr. Dutra has more than 15 years of experience as a physician and principal investigator. She joined our company in May 2021.
José Espinoza, MD
Senior Medical Director
José Espinoza, MD, is a Senior Medical Director, Therapeutic Area/Oncology at Fortrea, based in Madrid, Spain. Dr. Espinoza has over 20 years of experience in drug development, which includes enrolling patients into cancer trials, helping design and executing studies, medical monitoring and data analysis of global trials, interfacing with regulatory bodies, and working with biotech and pharmaceutical companies to refine drug development strategies.
As a European board-certified onco-hematologist, Dr. Espinoza holds a double specialization: Clinical Oncology (1992-97) and Clinical Hematology & Bone Marrow Transplantation (1997-2001), and has more than 20 years of clinical experience as Consultant Onco-Hematologist at public hospitals in Spain and Ireland. Dr. Espinoza joined in our company in October 2021.
Jose Daniel Fanjul Fuente, MD
Medical Director, Oncology
Jose Daniel Fanjul Fuente, MD, is a Medical Director, Oncology, for Fortrea, based in Madrid, Spain. He provides medical and scientific guidance and support to project teams and investigative sites on clients’ drug development projects, and reviews protocols, case report forms, clinical study reports and other data and materials. Dr. Fuente has more than 10 years of experience as a physician and medical director in clinical research and development specializing in oncology.
Before his current position, he held medical director and manager positions in oncology with IQVIA and Bristol Myers Squibb in Buenos Aires, Argentina. At Bristol Myers Squibb, Dr. Fuente led scientific activities that gave impetus to the product line of the oncology therapeutic area (Nivolumab and Ipilimumab). He joined our company in October 2018.
Daniel Gandia, MD
Senior Medical Director
Dr. Gandia is a physician with more than 30 years of experience in clinical oncology and the pharmaceutical industry. He is a former senior clinical permanent staff member of the Institute Gustave-Roussy (Paris, France) under the supervision of Professor Jean-Pierre Armand. He joined IQVIA on 2016 as Medical Director in the Therapeutic Science and Strategy Unit for the US, Canada and Latin-America regions and worldwide clinical trials in 2021, serving as Senior Medical Director. He joined Fortrea in February 2023 as Senior Medical Director, MedSci Therapeutic Expertise-Oncology & Global Clinical Development.
He is Board Certified in Medical Oncology, with a special interest in Melanoma, Lung, Head and Neck, Colorectal and Breast Cancer. He has been continuously working in clinical and academic settings for more than 25 years. Dr. Gandia has also served as Scientific Advisor and Medical Director in several Pharmaceutical Companies during his professional career.
Dr. Gandia received his Medical Degree at the School of Medicine of the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and he underwent his postgraduate training in Internal Medicine and Clinical Oncology at the Sanatorio Guemes, Buenos Aires, completing his Oncology fellowship program in 1988 and spending one extra year as Chief Resident and Instructor at the Instituto Angel H. Roffo (the Argentinean National University Cancer Institute).
At the Institut Gustave-Roussy, he produced several publications in peer-reviewed journals and meetings abstracts in early phases of oncology drug development.
He was heavily involved in the drug development of irinotecan. Dr. Gandia was the first investigator who described the drug cholinergic acute syndrome, and also as the head, one of the investigators that described the use of high-dose intense Loperamide to control delayed diarrhea during the European Phase I study.
Dr. Gandia's top skills are oncology, Phase I-III studies, study design, biology and molecular oncology, pharmacology, publishing papers and providing educational programs for professionals. He joined our company in February 2023.
Franklin Gaylis, MD, FACS
Urology Consultant
Franklin Gaylis, MD, FACS, is a Urology Consultant at Fortrea. He also serves as Executive Medical Director of Unio Health Partners (UHP), the largest Urology group in California and as a voluntary Professor of Urology at the University of California, San Diego.
Dr. Gaylis is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, member of the American Urological Association and diplomat of the American Board of Urology. He lectures nationally and internationally on the subject of medical quality and implementation science and is considered a leader in the field. His research has been published in clinical journals such as Urology, Journal of Urology, Urology Practice, American Journal of Medical Quality, and the New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Gaylis’ practice of more than 30 years has been focused on treating early and late stage prostate and bladder cancer including surgical procedures as well as clinical trials, Phases I-IV. He has participated in numerous clinical trials over the past 30 years, serving as PI in many and has 40 publications, 30 of which he is first author. Dr. Gaylis has a deep interest in data mining from the EMR and oversees UHP’s healthcare informatics program. He has experience with “big data” analytics and is exploring the feasibility for developing synthetic/external controls in Urology at Fortrea. Dr. Gaylis provides urological guidance for therapeutics, diagnostics and biomarker clinical trials and has conducted several advisory boards for sponsors seeking guidance regarding protocols in development.
Maria Paula Ghirardi, MD
Medical Director Oncology
Maria Paula Ghirardi, MD, is Medical Director of Oncology for Fortrea Clinical Development Services, based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Dr. Ghirardi has 6 years of Oncology clinical research experience in both pharmaceutical and CRO industry. She provides clinical and medical expertise to project team and other Fortrea departments to advance clients’ drug development programs and contributes to the scientific strategic leadership of the Oncology therapeutic area. She has experience leading important launches of hematology-oncology compounds for multiple myeloma, AL amyloidosis, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Dr. Ghirardi earned her medical degree from the University of Buenos Aires and completed her internal medicine residency at the Hospital Ramos Mejia in Buenos Aires and Hematology residency at the Hospital de Clinicas in Buenos Aires and Sociedad Argentina de Hematologia. She joined our company in October 2022.
Brian Hamilton, MD, PhD
Medical Director
Brian Hamilton, MD, PhD, is Senior Medical Director for Fortrea, based in Newton, Massachusetts. He serves as Fortrea Subject Matter Expert for cellular immune-oncology, CAR-T and gene therapy. He also serves as global lead project physician on clients’ drug development projects. Dr. Hamilton has more than 35 years of experience in pediatric medicine, immunology, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and clinical research and development. Before joining Fortrea, he served as Executive Medical Monitor for Chiltern International. He has also held senior-level medical director, director physician, regulatory affairs and clinical research positions with Galena Biopharma, AstraZeneca, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Wyeth Oncology, and other pharmaceutical and biotech firms. Dr. Hamilton joined our company in August 2018.
Konstantin Haradinov, MD
Medical Director
Konstantin Haradinov, MD, is a Medical Director, Oncology for Fortrea, based in Sofia, Bulgaria. He contributes to the development of Fortrea policies involving medical, safety and therapeutics; serves as global lead project physician and provides medical and safety monitoring on assigned projects; reviews medical data and provides clinical and medical expertise to project teams and other Fortrea departments, and performs safety trend analyses.
Dr. Haradinov has more than 15 years of experience in clinical research as a medical director and physician/oncologist. Before joining Fortrea he served as Medical Officer, Oncology, for Chiltern International in Sofia, Bulgaria. Dr. Haradinov joined our company in April 2019.
Jingjun (Eric) Huang, MD
Senior Medical Manager
Jingjun (Eric) Huang, MD, is Senior Medical Manager in Fortrea, based in Guangzhou, China. He has 10 years of experience in clinical practice and clinical study in oncology, especially in hepatobiliary cancer. He was a principal investigator and expert reviewer of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and Medical Science Research Foundation of Guangdong Province. He published nine studies as the first/co-first author.
Dr. Huang earned his doctorate degree and bachelors degree in an eight-year program in Clinical Medicine at Sun Yat-sen University. He completed his residency in the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University and worked as attending physician in the Department of Interventional Radiology and Minimally Invasive and Interventional Cancer Center and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University. He joined our company in January 2022.
Juan Jure, MD
Medical Director
Juan Jure, MD, is a Medical Director based in Buenos Aires, Argentina at Fortrea, where he serves as project physician. Dr. Jure brings extensive experience in medical and safety oversight of clinical trials, with a strong therapeutic experience in oncology (solid tumors Phases I-III) and cancer supportive care as well as developing, reviewing, and revising protocols and project-specific tools.
Prior to his current position, Dr. Jure held positions where he gained expertise in medical monitoring demonstrating a commitment to ensuring the safety and well-being of study participants, as well as maintaining high standards of data quality and site compliance.
Dr. Jure holds an MD degree from Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina, and completed his postgraduate degree in Clinical Oncology at Municipalidad de San Isidro. Furthermore, he has completed a Master's in Business Administration from Universidad del Salvador, Argentina.
Dr. Juan Jure's diverse experience and commitment to patient care, make him a valuable asset in the field of clinical research and drug development. He joined our company in March 2023.
Jinju Kim, MD, PhD
Medical Director
Jinju Kim, MD, PhD, is a Medical Director of Oncology for Fortrea, based in Seoul, Korea. Dr. Kim has over 10 years of clinical development/clinical research experience in pharmaceutical industry and academia including a broad range of clinical drug development activities and cross functional collaboration.
Dr. Kim earned her medical degree from Hanyang University and majored in Internal Medicine at Hanyang University Graduate School, Korea. In addition, she completed her internal medicine residency and fellowship training at Hanyang University Hospital and then worked as clinical physician and research professor. She has worked for various clinical and project-facing roles as a medical lead at both global pharmaceutical and innovative biotech companies since 2015. She joined our company in 2022.
Marcin Koziej, MD
Medical Director
Marcin Koziej, MD, is a medical director of oncology for Fortrea based in Warsaw, Poland. Dr. Koziej has more than 33 years of experience in medical onco-pulmonary research centers, CROs and the pharmaceutical environment. His roles have included physician and investigator, clinical operations professional and project management leader of pan-European and global teams, medical monitor and advisor, clinical strategist, business advisor and mentor.
Dr. Koziej earned his medical degree from the Warsaw Medical School, Warsaw, Poland and completed his internal medicine fellowship at the National Research Institute for Tb and Lung Disease in Warsaw, Poland. In 2016 he joined Chiltern, which then became part of Labcorp in 2020 and is now Fortrea.
Carlo Lanza, MD, PhD
Executive Medical Officer
Carlo Lanza, MD, PhD, is Executive Medical Officer for Fortrea, based in Lugano, Switzerland. Dr. Lanza performs medical monitoring and safety assessments on Phase I-IV clinical trials for Fortrea clients. He leads early phase and translational research early development programs with targeted therapies, small molecules, biologics and gene therapy. Dr. Lanza also oversees development of late-stage development strategies, delivery and approval of registrational programs. He brings more than 20 years of experience in clinical research and development as a physician and medical director, specializing in pediatrics and oncology.
Before joining Fortrea, he served as Medical Director for Medicines for Malaria Venture in Geneva, Switzerland. Dr. Lanza has also held leadership positions with Novartis Oncology, Pfizer Global R&D, and AstraZeneca UK. Carlo joined our company in 2012.
Chunyan Li, MD
Associate Medical Director
Chunyan Li, MD, is an associate medical director of oncology for Fortrea, based in China, Shanghai. Dr. Li has solid background and experience in Oncology, she is a board certified oncologist and has 7 years of clinical experience in Shanghai's top hospitals and has served as medical monitor in CROs since 2018 for studies that include solid tumors (non-small cell lung cancer, small cell lung cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, gastrointestinal stromal tumor, colon cancer, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma) as well as lymphomas (classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma, mantle cell lymphoma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma).
Dr. Li received her bachelor degree of clinical medicine from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and master degree in oncology from Tongji University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. She completed the standardized training for residents and standardized training for oncology specialist in Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center and Shanghai 10th People’s Hospital. She joined our company in May 2021.
Xiaoling Li, MD
Senior Medical Manager
Xiaoling Li, MD, is the senior medical manager, oncology for Fortrea, based in Wuhan, China. Xiaoling has more than 15 years of experiences in industry, including hospital, pharmaceutical companies and CRO, focused on providing drug development expertise to the medical strategy and execution of the programs, performing medical and safety monitoring on the projects. Xiaoling earned her master degree of Hematology from Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science & Technology in 2008. She joined our company in Jan 2021.
Dobrica Neric, MD
Medical Director
Dobrica Neric, MD, is a Medical Director for Oncology, based in Belgrade, Serbia. Dr. Neric is a specialist of Internal Medicine and sub-specialist of Medical Oncology and has more than 20 years of clinical experience as a physician. He has worked in several medical departments in primary, secondary and tertiary medical care institutions, including the General Hospital of Uzice to Institute for Oncology and Radiology of Serbia in Belgrade. His main focus are several areas within Medical Oncology with strong clinical background in all Internal Medicine departments (especially Cardiology).
Dr. Neric graduated and completed further education of Internal Medicine specialization and Medical Oncology sub-specialization, on Medicine Faculty of University of Belgrade, Serbia.
Dr. Neric started his CRO career as a Medical Officer and Medical Monitor and he has joined our company in February 2023. Currently, he is involved in Fortrea clinical trials as a Project Physician, for the Phases I, II and III of clinical trials and also cooperates with other Fortrea departments on different projects.
Paulo Nunes, MD
Medical Director
Paulo Nunes, MD, is an Oncology Medical Director based in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Dr. Nunes is a medical oncologist and epidemiologist with more than 10 years of experience in oncology clinical and epidemiological research both as an investigator and medical monitor and has worked both in the academic setting as well as in cooperative oncology groups. His main areas of scientific interest are early-phase clinical trials, epidemiological studies, and gynecological cancers.
Dr. Nunes earned his medical degree from the Federal University of Rio Grande and completed his internal medicine residency at the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, medical oncology residency at Hospital São Lucas da PUCRS, and a fellowship in gynecological cancer and phase I clinical research at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. He holds a master's degree in Epidemiology from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. He joined our company in March 2022.