Dr. Perez graduated from the University of São Paulo School of Medicine where he completed his surgical training under the supervision of Prof. Angelita Habr-Gama. In 2002 he was a Visiting Research Fellow at USC where he collaborated with Dr. Robert Beart. He obtained his PhD in São Paulo in 2006 in studying potential molecular targets for gene therapy in rectal cancer. After joining the Angelita and Joaquim Gama Institute and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in 2004, Dr. Perez has concentrated his clinical and research activity on the management of rectal cancer, with interest in the prediction of response to neoadjuvant chemoradiation regimens and in the alternative organ preserving strategies used for patients developing complete clinical response. From 2010 to 2014, Dr. Perez was a Post-Doctoral fellow at the University of São Paulo in the use of molecular imaging (PET/CT) for the assessment of response of rectal tumors to chemoradiation. In 2014 and 2018, Dr. Perez was awarded the Young Research Fund (1 & 2) in São Paulo (FAPESP) to study molecular mechanisms associated with resistance/sensitivity of rectal cancers to chemoradiation. Currently, he serves at the editorial board of multiple scientific surgical and oncology journals and has contributed with numerous (>120) publications to the field in peer-reviewed journals.
