Dr. Francisca Mulero MD, PhD

Dr. Francisca Mulero is Head of the Molecular Imaging Core Unit at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) in Madrid, a position she has held since June 2007. In this role she oversees preclinical and clinical cancer research using PET-CT and CT imaging techniques, with a particular focus on molecular imaging applications in oncology. She has served as Imaging Expert at IAG, Image Analysis Group, on a freelance basis since January 2020, with a specialism in nuclear medicine, molecular imaging, and oncology PET — both preclinical and clinical. She also serves as Chief of the Advisory Board of the MIT M+Vision Consortium and as a Faculty Member and Co-Chair of the Selection Committee of the IDEA3 Fellowship Program, a position she has held since January 2015. She holds an active Certificate of Supervisor of Radioactive Installations issued by the Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear (CSN), maintained since 1998.

Dr. Mulero’s primary research focus is molecular imaging in cancer, encompassing PET-CT and CT imaging for preclinical and clinical applications, radioimmunotheragnosis (the combination of immunoPET and radioimmunotherapy using radiolabeled antibodies), and the application of advanced imaging techniques for tumor characterization and therapeutic response assessment in oncology. Her methodological work includes the development and validation of immunoPET approaches for non-invasive imaging of antigen expression in cancer, enabling patient selection for radioimmunotherapy, and the design and validation of flow cytometry panels for longitudinal immune cell analysis in murine models. She has also contributed to research on tumor-promoting senescent secretomes triggered by platinum-based chemotherapy and their exploitation of targetable signaling axes in lung and ovarian cancer.

Her translational research bridges preclinical imaging science and clinical oncology applications. Her published work includes studies of Tc-99m MIBI scintigraphy in breast cancer, PET imaging of triple-negative breast cancer using radiolabeled anti-MT1-MMP antibodies, imaging of KRAS oncogene ablation in lung adenocarcinomas, and editorial contributions to immunoPET imaging in disease diagnosis and therapy assessment. She has contributed to research on KRAS inhibition, TGF-beta-driven resistance mechanisms in platinum-treated cancers, and miR-203-driven breast cancer cell differentiation.

Dr. Mulero has been involved in radioimmunotheragnosis research in cancer, encompassing both immunoPET imaging and radioimmunotherapy with radiolabeled antibodies, including ongoing clinical trials of radioimmunotherapy with different radiolabeled antibodies as referenced in her 2024 publication in Cancers (DOI listed in Section 6). She obtained a DuPont Fellowship (1999 to 2000) for the study of Tc-99m Sestamibi Scintimammography in the evaluation of response of breast carcinoma to chemotherapy, which involved imaging-based treatment response assessment.

Dr. Mulero has 132 publications listed on ResearchGate with 5,130 citations. She is Chief of the Advisory Board of the MIT M+Vision Consortium and a Faculty Member and Co-Chair of the Selection Committee of the IDEA3 Fellowship Program. She has served as sole or lead author on editorial contributions to Frontiers in Medicine on immunoPET imaging in disease diagnosis and therapy assessment (2023). Her work has been published in journals including Nature Aging, Cancers, Frontiers in Immunology, Breast Cancer Research, Nuclear Medicine and Biology, and the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Dr. Mulero obtained her MD degree from the Universidad de Alicante (1986 to 1992) and completed her MIR (specialist residency) in Nuclear Medicine at the Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca in Murcia. She was awarded a First Class Honours PhD from the Universidad de Murcia in 1998, with a doctoral thesis entitled “MIBI-Tc-99m in the differential diagnosis of breast injuries,” having begun her doctoral studies in 1994. She worked as a Nuclear Medicine Specialist at the Hospital Virgen de la Arrixaca from 1994 to 2007, and as Medical PET-CT Specialist at the same hospital from 2005 to 2007. She was issued her Certificate of Supervisor of Radioactive Installations by the Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear in 1998. She obtained a DuPont Fellowship in 1999 to 2000 and was awarded three further qualifications in 2004: PET Scanning in Breast Cancer, PET in the Evaluation of Alzheimer’s disease, and Dual Modality PET/CT. She completed a Management Fundamentals for Scientists and Researchers program at IE Business School in 2013 to 2014.