Susan Galbraith

Dr. Susan Galbraith joined AstraZeneca in 2010 and led the development of some of the Company’s most innovative cancer therapies. Prior to this appointment, Susan was Senior Vice-President and Head of Research and Early Development, Oncology R&D, and had overseen the progression of seven programmes into Phase III trials, with four new medicines now approved around the world: Lynparza (olaparib), the first-in-class PARP inhibitor approved in ovarian, breast, prostate and pancreatic cancers; Tagrisso (osimertinib), a third-generation, irreversible epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) approved in lung cancer; Orpathys (savolitinib), an oral, potent and highly selective MET TKI approved in China for non-small cell lung cancer patients with MET exon 14 skipping alterations; and Koselugo (selumetinib), an inhibitor of mitogen-activated protein kinase approved in paediatric patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 with plexiform neurofibromas.

Susan has over 20 years of experience in drug discovery and development with a background as a clinical oncologist. She trained in medicine at Manchester and Cambridge Universities, was admitted to the Royal College of Physicians in 1992, and then trained in clinical oncology in London. In 1997, Susan gained a Fellowship of the Royal College of Radiologists and completed a PhD at the University of London involving translational work on a vascular-targeting molecule. In 2017, she was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Medical Science from the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), and in 2018 was admitted to the Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

In addition to her role at AstraZeneca, Susan serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the ICR and on the European Association of Cancer Research Advisory Council. In 2021, Susan was elected to the Board of Directors of the American Association for Cancer Research. She is also a member of the Cambridge Cancer Centre Executive Committee.