The Spanish National Cancer Research Centre – Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas (CNIO) – was founded in 1998 within the Institute of Health Carlos III (Instituto de Salud Carlos III, ISCIII). Located in the facilities at the Chamartín Campus of the ISCIII, in Madrid, the CNIO employs nearly 400 researchers. Research activities at the CNIO are developed by Research Groups, Core Units and Drug Discovery Sections. The Groups are specialized into 3 Basic Research Programmes (Molecular Oncology, Structural Biology & Biocomputing) and 2 Translational Research Programmes (Human Cancer Genetics, Clinical Research). In addition, the Core Units and Sections are under the Direction of Innovation, which includes a Biotechnology Programme providing the most advanced scientific and technological support services to the rest of the programmes, an Experimental Therapeutics programme focused on drug discovery, as well as a Technology Transfer & Valorisation Office. In addition to the in-house Clinical Research Units, the Clinical Research Programme has greatly expanded in the last three years through agreements with both private and public hospitals in the area of Madrid. Dr. Peinado is the group leader of the Microenvironment and Metastasis group at the CNIO. His work have defined the role of secreted exosomes in pre-metastatic niche formation and the use of exosomes to analyze mutations. His group formed by 9 people including 3 postdoctoral researches, 4 PhD students and 2 technicians.
