Professor Alan Ashworth FRS, Chief Executive of The Institute of Cancer Research, London, has been appointed to the prestigious post of Director of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, at the University of California, San Francisco.
Professor Ashworth, one of the UK’s most respected cancer researchers, will take up the position at UCSF – the US’s leading health sciences university - from 1 January 2015.
He has worked at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) for 28 years, taking over as Chief Executive in January 2011, and now gets the opportunity to lead a large-scale programme of both cancer research and patient care in the renowned US comprehensive cancer centre system.
As Director of the UCSF Helen Diller Cancer Center, Professor Ashworth will lead and be responsible for laboratory, clinical and epidemiological research across the entire UCSF campus, including UCSF Medical Center, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital and the UCSF Bakar Cancer Hospital, which will open in February 2015.
UCSF is the largest public recipient of US federal bioscience research funding through the National Institutes of Health, and is acclaimed for its research into the molecular causes of cancer, including a Nobel Prize for its discovery of oncogenes.
The ICR will now begin an extensive search for Professor Ashworth’s successor, with the onus on finding an exceptional individual with an equal commitment to the ICR’s mission of making the discoveries that defeat cancer.
The ICR Board of Trustees is discussing with Professor Ashworth the timetable for his succession as Chief Executive. He will also retain a formal research link with the ICR, and his appointment will strengthen the opportunities for collaboration between the two organisations.
Professor Ashworth helped discover the BRCA2 gene while at the ICR and went on to develop innovative therapeutic approaches to the treatment of hereditary cancers. He played a major role in reinforcing the ICR’s position as one of the UK’s leading cancer research centres and the world’s most successful at discovering new cancer drugs.
Luke Johnson, Chairman of The Institute of Cancer Research, London, said: “Professor Alan Ashworth has devoted almost his entire career to driving forward the ICR’s science and placing us among the world’s leading cancer research organisations. He has always emphasised the purpose of our research, which is to deliver improved outcomes for cancer patients. We are hugely grateful for the legacy he will leave.”
Professor Alan Ashworth, Chief Executive of The Institute of Cancer Research, London, said: “The opportunity to take on leadership of such a major programme of research and patient care is very exciting. I have had a wonderful time at the ICR and the experience I have gained will be critical in allowing me to rise to this challenge.”