Luis Costa, MD, PhD

Professor Luís António Marques da Costa, MD, PhD, is an internationally recognized medical oncologist, academic leader, and translational cancer researcher. He serves as Chair of the Oncology Department at Hospital de Santa Maria; Medical Director of the Clinical Research Center of the Lisbon Academic Medical Center; Professor of Medicine at the University of Lisbon; Translational Oncology Research Leader at the Gulbenkian Institute for Molecular Medicine in Lisbon; Founding Director of the Breast Cancer in Young Women Foundation; and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Young Women’s Breast Cancer and Health.

Professor Costa’s career has been defined by major contributions to metastatic cancer biology, particularly in bone metastases and breast cancer, and by his leadership in integrating molecular oncology into clinical practice. After earning his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Lisbon in 1985, he completed postgraduate training in internal medicine and medical oncology at Hospital de Santa Maria. His early commitment to research-driven clinical care was strengthened by a visiting fellowship at Hershey Medical Center, Penn State University, in 1992, which helped launch long-standing international collaborations.

In 2002, he earned a PhD in Medical Oncology from the University of Lisbon and became a Principal Investigator at the Institute of Molecular Medicine. He later founded and continues to lead the Translational Oncobiology Research Unit, where his group investigates mechanisms of tumor progression, metastatic organotropism, clonal evolution, and the biology of bone metastases.

A central theme of Professor Costa’s research has been the clinical and molecular biology of bone metastases. Since the mid-1990s, he has been a pioneer in demonstrating the value of biochemical markers of bone turnover, particularly type I collagen fragments, for monitoring treatment response and prognosis in patients with metastatic bone disease. His work has improved the prediction and management of skeletal-related events and has informed the development and clinical use of bone-targeted therapies, including bisphosphonates and RANK-ligand inhibitors.

Beyond bone biology, Professor Costa has made significant contributions to breast cancer research, spanning metastatic disease, therapy resistance, triple-negative breast cancer, synchronous bilateral breast cancer, and breast cancer in young women. Through international collaborations, including the Global Cancer Genomics Consortium, he has helped identify molecular correlates of metastatic spread, including adhesion and signaling pathways such as paxillin and RANK-related mechanisms.

Alongside his research, Professor Costa has built an exceptional record of clinical leadership. Since 2005, he has served as Director of the Oncology Department at Hospital de Santa Maria and, since 2009, as Chief of Oncology. In these roles, he has expanded comprehensive cancer care, strengthened multidisciplinary tumor boards, and helped position the department as a nationally and internationally competitive center for clinical trials, including early-phase, immunotherapy, breast cancer, and precision oncology studies.

Professor Costa is also a dedicated educator and mentor. He has supervised or co-supervised numerous PhD and Master’s theses, helping train a new generation of oncology clinicians and researchers. His broader scientific leadership includes serving as President of the Portuguese Association of Cancer Research and of the Oncology Board at the National College of Medicine; serving on national and international advisory boards; serving as an expert reviewer for major funding agencies, including the European Research Council; and serving on the editorial boards of leading oncology journals. In 2020, he was elected a Member of the Portuguese National Academy of Medicine. He was also recently admitted to the EORTC Independent Data Monitoring Committee.