ERN-EYE Webinar – Retinoblastoma

Dr. Jaume Català-Mora

Jaume Català-Mora, MD, PhD in the head of the Vitreo-retinal Unit at Sant Joan de Déu Hospital. He coordinates the National Reference Center of Childhood Intraocular Tumors providing diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of patients with Retinoblastoma.

He is the president of the Spanish Group of Ocular Oncology and has pioneered the introduction of intra-arterial and intraocular chemotherapy in Europe. Additionally, he led the first clinical trial using an oncolytic virus for the treatment of patients with retinoblastoma.

Adela Escudero López, PhD

Adela Escudero López, PhD, is the head of the Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Genetic Laboratory at the Medical and Molecular Genetics Institute of La Paz University Hospital. This hospital serves as a national reference center for patients with retinoblastoma. Her laboratory provides genetic testing to impove the diagnosis of pediatric cancer predisposition syndromes, including retinoblastoma.

Dr. Escudero leads the Pediatric Cancer Predisposition Syndrome Group of the Spanish Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Society (SEHOP). Additionally, she coordinates some working groups of the Spanish SEHOP-PENCIL project, which aims to implement a nationwide sequencing program that offers access to next-generation sequencing (NGS) to enhance the diagnosis of retinoblastoma among others cancer predisposition syndromes.

Dr María Muñoz Martínez

María Muñoz Martínez, MD, is a Pediatric Oncologist at Pediatric Cancer Center Barcelona (Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona). She is a member the Solid Extracraneal Tumors Unit where she leads the management and follow up on patients diagnosed with retinoblastoma at the institution, in coordination with the ophthalmology team.

Dr. Muñoz also works in the Pediatric Cancer Predisposition Unit in the institution, where she oversees the evaluation and monitoring of patients with a suspected genetic predisposition to cancer. Her work integrates clinical care, genetic assessment, and long-term surveillance to provide comprehensive and personalized care.

Carme Julià Ferré

Carme Julià is Anna and Júlia’s mother. They are 11 and 7 years old, respectively. In 2018, Júlia was diagnosed with hereritary retinoblastoma when she was 8 months old. Since then, Carme and Joan Carles (Anna and Júlia’s father) have been working with their Foundation (La Nineta dels Ulls) to promote research in retinoblastoma and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

Carme is associate professor at the Rovira i Virgili University (Tarragona, Spain). With a degree in mathematics and a doctorate in computer science, she is trying to link her research to applications for retinoblastoma. She is currently working on a mobile application fo the early detection of this disease.