I have headed up the DNA Damage Response (DDR) strategic biology area within AstraZeneca Oncology R&D for the last 15 years, providing scientific leadership for various aspects of research, drug discovery and the development of DDR inhibitors. During that time, I have gained experience in the full process of drug discovery and development from target identification through to clinical candidate selection, Phase 1 to Phase 3 clinical development, regulatory approval and life cycle management.
After going to Bristol University in 1983 to study Microbiology, I gained a PhD in Molecular Genetics before moving to Singapore as a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, where I worked on the transcriptional regulation of human papillomavirus oncogenes and their association with cervical cancer.
In 1999, I returned to the UK to take up a position as one of the three science team leaders at KuDOS, a spin-out biotech company based on the work of Professor Steve Jackson at Cambridge University. Here, I researched the cellular network of pathways that minimise the daily impact of DNA damage in normal tissue but represent an Achilles’ heel in cancers, where DDR dependencies can be targeted to generate new therapeutic treatments for cancer. It was at KuDOS in 2004 that I first started working on PARP inhibitors. KuDOS was acquired by AstraZeneca at the beginning of 2006, and I’m now based in the new Discovery Centre (DISC) based in Cambridge, UK.
As well as being a named inventor on multiple patents, I have a strong publication record, many of which have come through great external collaborations, and that include peer reviewed publications in Cell, Cancer Cell, Cancer Discovery, Molecular Cell, Nature Cell Biology, Journal of Clinical Oncology and the New England Journal of Medicine.
It’s been incredibly exciting to have been one of those at the forefront of developing completely new ways in which we can target cancers but also genuinely humbling to have had an opportunity to meet a number of the cancer patients who have benefitted from our work.
2015
2010
2002
CURRENT ROLE
2018
2016
2010
Career highlights
2022
2015-2016
2015
2015
2009
2005
Featured publications
Veeva ID: Z4-70469
Date of preparation: December 2024