The IDIBELL researcher Gabriel Capellá has been appointed new Head of Research and Innovation for Health of the Health Department of the Generalitat de Catalunya, replacing Marta Aymerich. Capellá will combine this task with the responsabilities of head of the Hereditary Cancer Program of the ICO and leader of the IDIBELL Hereditary Cancer group. From 2008 to 2012 he served as scientific director of the research institute.

Capellá is PhD in Medicine and Surgery from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the California Institute of Biological Research in La Jolla (California, USA) and in Sant Pau Hospital, Barcelona. He has also been visiting professor at the University of Michigan. He has also exercised as surgeon in the Hospital de Sant Jaume de Calella, Barcelona. His research focuses on molecular diagnostics of cancer, both hereditary and sporadic, especially in colorectal cancer. He has researched new prognostic markers in cancer and has developed animal tumour models using innovative techniques of orthotopic transplantation. His work has led to the implementation of various molecular biology techniques in clinical practice. He has authored more than 200 scientific articles.