The Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau) has approved the creation of the new research group TRAIL (Thoracic Surgery Research and Innovation in Lung Cancer), dedicated to advancing research and innovation in the field of thoracic surgery and lung cancer. The group will be led by Dr. Juan Carlos Trujillo-Reyes, head of the Joint Thoracic Surgery Service of Sant Pau and del Mar hospitals. The founding members of the new group, in addition to Dr. Trujillo, are Dr. Elisabeth Martínez, a specialist in minimally invasive techniques and in improving patients’ quality of life, and Dr. Josep Belda Sanchis, a thoracic surgeon with more than thirty years of experience in complex lung surgery and oncological pathology.
According to Dr. Trujillo, “Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide and in Spain. That is why it is essential to commit to research and innovation in early diagnosis and advanced surgical techniques that allow us to improve outcomes and patient survival.”
TRAIL was established with the goal of consolidating high-quality research with a real impact on clinical practice. It is a pioneering and distinctive initiative within the national landscape, standing out for its innovative character and the uniqueness of its proposal in the current research context. Its main lines of research include early diagnosis of lung cancer through screening programs and advanced imaging techniques; optimal surgical selection after induction treatments; improvement of surgical techniques and perioperative outcomes, with a special focus on robotic surgery and prehabilitation programs; and translational research on biomarkers to integrate molecular and clinical data into therapeutic decision-making.
“Sant Pau offers us a privileged environment to develop high-level research, thanks to multidisciplinary collaboration and a direct connection with clinical practice. This synergy is key to generating knowledge that has an immediate impact on patients,” says Dr. Trujillo.
Dr. Juan Carlos Trujillo earned his degree in medicine and surgery from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (2009) and his PhD in medicine from the same university (2022). A specialist in thoracic surgery, he has worked at Sant Pau since 2015 and has been one of the main drivers of minimally invasive surgery at the center. He combines his clinical activity with teaching as an associate professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and with an outstanding research career, with more than 60 publications in high-impact journals.
He has played a key role in the Spanish Society of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR), where he coordinated the Thoracic Oncology Area and the CASSANDRA project, the first nationwide pilot study on lung cancer screening. Furthermore, he currently coordinates SEPAR’s research and development projects in thoracic oncology and is co-director of the national thymic tumor database. In 2024, he received SEPAR’s Young Investigator of the Year Award.
According to Dr. Trujillo, “The creation of the TRAIL group allows us to structure and strengthen all the work we are already doing in research and innovation in thoracic surgery and lung cancer. Our goal is to generate useful knowledge that translates into better patient care and reduced mortality from this disease.”
With its creation, TRAIL aims to consolidate Sant Pau as a reference center for research and innovation in thoracic surgery and lung cancer, promoting multidisciplinary synergies and training new generations of professionals in the biomedical field.
