Professor Paul Workman has announced his intention to step down as Chief Executive of The Institute of Cancer Research, London, in around a year's time after more than six years in the role.
Receiving advanced notice of Professor Workman's intention gives the ICR's Board of Trustees the time it needs to carry out an extensive international search for a new Chief Executive with world-class scientific, strategic and leadership credentials.
The ICR will be using a specialist recruitment agency, and searches like this normally take around a year. Professor Workman remains fully committed to leading the ICR as the process to appoint his successor progresses, and looks forward to continuing with his research at the ICR beyond his CEO tenure when that time comes.
Professor Workman said: "It is a great honour to lead the ICR and it is a role that I greatly enjoy. Looking ahead, it feels the right time to prepare to pass on the baton to a new scientific and organisational leader, once major milestones such as the opening of the Centre for Cancer Drug Discovery and the completion of our Faculty recruitment programme have been achieved.
"I am grateful for the support I have received from ICR staff during my time as Chief Executive and know I can rely on that to continue."
Luke Johnson, Chairman of the ICR, said: "Paul has been an inspirational and highly successful leader for the ICR. I am grateful to him for providing advanced notice of his intention to step down, so that we have the time we need to complete our search for a world-class successor."