Mark Cobbold

Senior Vice President Discovery and Head of Oncology Cell Therapy - Oncology R&D at AstraZeneca

Speaker

As SVP Oncology Cell Therapy Discovery at AstraZeneca, Mark applies his background as an immunologist and physician-scientist to translate science into potentially transformative medicines.

The AstraZeneca Immuno-Oncology Discovery team spans all stages of discovery, from target identification and validation to clinical candidate selection. The team is also focused on generating preclinical predictive models to identify patients with a higher likelihood of benefitting from different treatments. Beyond this, AstraZeneca is exploring the possibility of living medicines – cell therapies – to rebuild the body’s own ability to recognise and attack tumours, destroy cancer cells and achieve cure.

An immunologist and physician-scientist by training, Mark has specialised in managing patients with immunodeficiencies. His research has focused on translational immunology, which includes cancer immunology and immunotherapy. Mark’s early work related to human viral immunity and restoring anti-viral immune responses through cellular immunotherapy. Through his research, Mark developed a strong interest in tumour neoantigens – believed to play a dominant role in the immune system’s response to cancer – and has contributed to the discovery of a novel class of tumour antigens.