Martine Piccart-Gebhart is a world-renowned medical oncologist whose pioneering work has significantly advanced cancer treatment protocols worldwide. She serves as Honorary Professor of Oncology at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and Scientific Director at the Institut Jules Bordet in Brussels, Belgium, positions that reflect her leadership in European cancer research. A graduate of the Université libre de Bruxelles medical school in 1978, she completed her internal medicine certification there in 1983 and further specialized in oncology during a fellowship at New York University Medical Center from 1983 to 1985. She earned her PhD from the same university in 1993 with a thesis on molecular mechanisms involved in hormone-resistant breast cancer and has continued working at the Institute since her return to Brussels.
Her groundbreaking research has particularly focused on breast and ovarian cancer, where she has pioneered novel treatment approaches that have transformed clinical practice through rigorous clinical trial design and molecular analysis. She has authored or co-authored more than 540 peer-reviewed publications that have significantly influenced the field of oncology with their translational insights and methodological rigor. Her development of the AURORA molecular screening program has been particularly influential, accruing more than 1,100 patients from 62 hospitals across 11 European countries to better understand metastatic breast cancer through comprehensive molecular profiling. Her research has identified critical genetic aberrations linked to hormone therapy resistance, providing essential insights that are shaping the next generation of targeted cancer treatments and personalized medicine approaches.
As co-founder and chair of the Breast International Group BIG, she has united 57 academic research groups worldwide, creating one of the most extensive collaborative networks in cancer research that has run over 30 trials and developed numerous research programs. Her leadership extends to past presidencies of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer EORTC, the European Society for Medical Oncology ESMO, and the European Cancer Organisation ECCO. She has served on the boards of major organizations including ASCO and AACR, shaping global cancer research priorities through her extensive expertise and collaborative vision. Currently, her work continues to focus on molecular profiling of tumors to enable personalized treatment approaches, with her team conducting deep analysis of primary tumors and metastatic lesions to identify DNA changes that affect treatment response and improve outcomes for patients with metastatic breast cancer.
