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 continued working in research in Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (IMIM/PRBB) where she was responsible for the Coordination and execution of fieldwork of several Epidemiological studies MolDiag (Novel molecular diagnostic tools for the prevention and diagnosis of pancreatic cancer), INMA (Childhood and Environment; Newborns and Genotoxic Risk (New Generis).

In 2009 she was in Centre for Research in environmental Epidemiology (CREAL-PRBB) in an Internacional case-control study of brain tumors in children and young adults (Mobikids) where she was responsible for the National coordination and management of fieldwork of the Spanish team, selection, recruitment and training of instructors, involved in the development of tools for the data collection (protocols, questionnaires, etc),design of flyers , request of ethical approvals and circuit opening of hospitals, presentation of results in International meetings, organization of periodic meetings (via skype) with the Spanish team to follow up the study, coordination and completion of fieldwork in Catalonia, opening of hospital circuits into Catalonia, contact with the heads of service and rest of Medical team, in the diferent Medical services (oncology, pediatric oncology, neurology, neurosurgery, general surgery, radiology and pathology), contact with nursing, admissions and administrative services involved to explain their participation and review of inclusion/exclusion criteria and patients recruitment.

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.

In December 2018 she joined the Cancer Epidemiology Research Program (CERP) in the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) as study coordinator and member of UNIC-M, where she is responsible for the management and coordination of a cross-sectional study on the prevalence of oral HPV infection in the young population. She was responsible for the involved in the development of tools for the data collection (questionnaires, difusion documentation, flyers, etc), coordination and completion of fieldwork in Catalonia, designed of the REDCap questionnaire, Opened of universitary circuits into Catalonia, reviewed of inclusion/exclusion criteria and patients recruitment, generation, programming and introduction of databases (REDCap), obtained collection of biological samples from participants (oral rinse).

In 2020-2021 she was unblinded study nurse in A Phase 3, International, Multi-center, Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo controlled Clinical Trial to Study the Efficacy, Immunogenicity, and Safety of the 9vHPV Vaccine, a Multivalent L1 Virus-like Particle Vaccine, in the prevention of oral persistent infection with HPV Types 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, or 58 in adult males, 20 to 45 years of age (NCT04199689), and she was administering the vaccine/placebo vial.

In May 2020 she started the coordination of two observational studies: PROGRESS and BROADEN (The BROADEN study - Observational study to assess the absolute BuRden Of hpv-related heAd anD nEck caNcers).

In Jan 2023 she began with the coordination of a translational head and neck cancer study .

Since October 2024, she has been in the technical office for neck cancer screening as a nurse manager.