Angel R. Nebreda obtained his PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Salamanca (Spain) and then worked as a postdoc at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda (USA) and the Cancer Research-UK Clare Hall Laboratories in South Mimms (UK). In 1995, he started his own group at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg (Germany) where he worked for 9 years and then moved to the newly created Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas in Madrid. He is currently an ICREA Research Professor at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Barcelona, where he leads a multidisciplinary team with expertise in biochemistry and molecular and cellular biology techniques, genetically modified mice and preclinical cancer models. He was elected EMBO member in 2003 and has obtained ERC Advanced and Proof of Concept grants.

The group investigates how external signals are interpreted by cells to modulate their proliferation, differentiation and survival, focusing on the p38 MAPK pathway. Current work addresses the role of p38 MAPKs in tumor development and chemoresistance mechanisms both by regulating the fitness of the cancer cell and by controlling the cross talk between cancer cells and stromal cells in the tumor microenvironment. We use a combination of biochemical approaches and chemical tools with studies in established cell lines and primary cell cultures, as well as in vivo experiments using mouse models. Our goal is to identify therapeutic opportunities based on the modulation of p38 MAPK signaling. We are also performing screenings to find actionable targets that can be used to boost current therapeutic approaches and to design new targeted therapies for highly heterogeneous and chemoresistant tumors.