Gema Carretero holds a Nursing degree (Blanquerna-Ramon Llull, University, 1997), and took a training course in clinical research coordination, (Col·legi Oficial d’Infermeria de Barcelona, 2007). She has 19-years’ experience in medical research, coordinating clinical trials and observational studies in the investigational site.

In 2000 she started working in the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute-IMIM as project technician in several epidemiological studies such as SARI (Selenium Research Integration Study), GALEN (Global Allergy and Asthma European Network), EPICURO (Spanish Bladder Cancer Case-control Study) and ERCHS II (European Community Respiratory Health Survey). Her main tasks were field work in population and hospital case-control studies, identification and recruitment of participants, data collection and biological sampling, review of cancer treatments and validation of tumour grades, and data entry into studies’ databases.

In 2007 she joined Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (IMIM/PRBB) where she was responsible for the coordination and execution of fieldwork in several epidemiological studies, such as MOLDIAG (Novel Molecular Diagnostic Tools for the Prevention and Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer), INMA (Childhood and Environment) and New Generis (Newborns and Genotoxic Exposure Risks).

In 2009 she undertook the Spanish national coordination and field work management in MOBIKIDS study (14-country internacional case-control study of brain tumors in children and young adults) in the Centre for Research in environmental Epidemiology (CREAL-PRBB). Her tasks included selection, recruitment and training of instructors; development of tools for data collection (protocols, questionnaires); regulatory approvals; site opening and patient’s recruitment; coordination of the different parties involved (medical units, nursing and administration); organization of telematic meetings with the Spanish team for study follow-up; and presentation of results in international meetings

In 2015 she joined the Hospital del Mar as coordinator and data entry of 11 phase-2 and 3 clinical trials conducted in the units of infectious diseases and internal medicine.

Since December 2018 she is study coordinator in the Unit of Molecular Epidemiology and Genetics in PREC. Currently she coordinates a cross-sectional study on the prevalence of oral HPV infection in the young population, and the PROGRESS and BROADEN studies on the burden of HPV-related head and neck cancer.

Since June 2020 she is also unblinded study nurse in a randomized clinical trial evaluating the efficacy, immunogenicity and safety of 9v-HPV vaccine versus placebo in preventing persistent oral infection in adult men (NCT04199689).