Antoni Ribas, M.D., Ph.D.

For over two decades, Ribas has been at the forefront of understanding melanoma biology, investigating how the disease interacts with the immune system and translating his research into new treatments. A key focus of his research involves optimizing the treatment of melanoma through the development of tumor immunotherapy approaches and targeted therapies that are informed by a deep understanding of the biological principles governing immune cells’ antitumor activity.

Ribas is conducting several clinical trials of cutting-edge cancer treatments, encompassing both immunotherapies and targeted stem cell-based therapies. In 2017, he launched a first-of-its-kind trial testing a dual immunotherapy approach that used both genetically modified blood stem cells and modified immune cells to treat melanomas, sarcomas and multiple myeloma. His recent work includes laboratory and clinical translational research in adoptive cell transfer therapy with T-cell receptor engineered lymphocytes, examining the antitumor activity of PD-1-blocking antibodies, testing novel targeted therapies blocking oncogenic events in melanoma and studying primary and acquired resistance to melanoma treatments. 

He has been instrumental in the clinical development of several cancer therapies approved by the FDA, including the anti-CTLA-4 tremelimumab (Imjudo), two combinations of BRAF and MEK inhibitors vemurafenib (Zelboraf) and cobimetinib (Cotellic), dabrafenib (Tafinlar), trametinib (Mekinist) and the first anti-PD-1 pembrolizumab (Keytruda). Keytruda is now used in the treatment of inoperable metastatic melanoma, non-small cell lung cancers and other malignancies including Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Ribas also utilizes molecular imaging technology such as PET scans to investigate and understand precisely how novel immunotherapies work on a molecular level. He aims to use these technologies to guide and evaluate new therapeutic strategies for melanoma.

He is a former president of the American Association for Cancer Research and an elected Fellow of the AACR Academy, the Royal Academy of Medicine of Catalonia, the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the National Academy of Medicine.