Mariano Barbacid got his Ph.D. at Madrid’s Universidad Complutense (1974) and trained as a post doctoral fellow at the US National Cancer Institute (1974-78) where he started his own research group in 1978. His work led in 1982 to the isolation of the first human oncogene, HRAS, and the identification of the first mutation associated with the development of human cancer.

He is also credited with the isolation of the TRK oncogene. This discovery led to the isolation of the TRK family of tyrosine protein kinase receptors as the functional receptors for the NGF family of neurotrophins.

In 1988, he joined Bristol Myers-Squibb as Vice President, Oncology Drug Discovery.

In 1998, he returned to Madrid to create and direct the Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO). In 2011, Barbacid stepped down to focus on his long-standing interests in identifying therapeutic strategies against KRAS mutant tumors.

Barbacid was inducted to the US National Academy of Sciences in 2012 and in 2014 he was elected Fellow of the Academy of the American Association for Cancer Research. His work has been recognized by several domestic and international awards. In 2011, he received an Endowed Chair from the AXA Research Fund (Paris). To date, he has authored 335 publications, including 253 original research articles. Currently, his Hirsch "h" factor is 129.