Senior Director, Translational Pathology

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

We are seekingan Medical Doctor Anatomical Pathologist to lead the Translational Pathology team in Cambridge UK, support the implementation of biomarker strategies and provide pathology expertisefor our early oncology research and development team within the Cancer Biomarker Development group. Our pathology team plays a crucial role in supporting AstraZeneca’s translational medicine strategy for an innovative early oncology pipeline that includes Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADCs), Radio-conjugates, T-cell engagers, CAR-T therapies, bispecific antibodies, and small molecules.

In this role, based in Cambridge, UK, you will collaborate with a diverse team of pathologists, image analysts, bioinformaticians, translational scientists, biologists, and oncologists. This unique opportunity allows you to contribute to the development of new biomarkers, enabling indication selection, early assessment of biological activity, and optimal patient stratification. Your efforts will significantly enhance the probability of success for AstraZeneca's oncology pipeline.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the translational Pathology team in Cambridge, UK, which include laboratory operations, translational scientists, image analysis specialists, 

• Support the designand implementation of tissue-based biomarker strategies for early and late oncology assets, spanning Ph1 to Ph3 clinical studies.

• Lead the design, development, and validationof immunohistochemistryand multiplex assays, including the creation of robustscoring/quantitation methods.

• Deliver target expression data to inform indication selection and identifyoptimal patient populations.

• Facilitate informed biomarker selection by applying knowledge of the mechanisms of action, pharmacodynamics, and pharmacokinetics of the therapeutic agents.

• Assist in the development of Clinical Trial Prototype IHC assays and Companion Diagnostics (CDxs) in collaboration with diagnostic companies and CROs.

• Contribute advanced knowledge in cancer diagnosis and classification to the design of clinical study protocols, laboratory manuals, and various regulatory documents.

• Providehistopathological guidance to Computational Pathology, Translational Proteomics, Genomics, Discovery, and other Early Oncology teams to ensure the delivery of high-quality and robust data across the asset portfolio.

Essential requirements: 

• M.D. from an accredited medical university and board certification in anatomical pathology by a world-recognized examination board.

• ≥10 years of experience as a pathologist in aclinical laboratory setting, including at least 5 years of laboratory management experience.

• Diagnostic experience over a wide range of organs and disease entities.

• Effective time management and prioritization for various tasks across multiple projects at different stages.

• Excellent communication skills and strong collaboration skills to cooperate with experts from various technical and scientific backgrounds.

• Team player, who enjoys working in an international team.

Additional qualifications (non-essential): 

• Strong knowledge/experience intumor biologyand oncology therapy landscape.

• Strong knowledge in drug development,digital image analysis, CDx development (from target identification to post-marketing approval), and immunohistochemistry assay optimization.

• Experience in spatial analytics, multiplex IHC technologies, and AI-assisted image analysis.

• Experience in the analysis of preclinical models (cell lines, xenografts), and orthogonal methods of target expression measurement (proteomics, FACS, RNA sequencing).