Professor Mariam Jamal-Hanjani has been officially appointed as the new Chief Clinician at Cancer Research UK, stepping into a prominent leadership role designed to shape the charity’s overarching clinical research agenda and spearhead new national efforts to improve cancer treatment and patient care.
In her new capacity, Professor Jamal-Hanjani will guide the strategic direction of clinical investigations funded and supported by the organization, bringing her extensive expertise in oncology and genomics to the forefront of the UK’s leading cancer research charity. She officially assumed the role in October 2026, succeeding Professor Charles Swanton, who held the influential position with distinction since 2017.
Alongside her new responsibilities with Cancer Research UK, Professor Jamal-Hanjani serves as a Professor of Cancer Genomics and Metastasis at University College London (UCL). She is widely recognized within the international scientific community as a leading researcher specializing in the complex biological mechanisms governing how cancer evolves, spreads throughout the body, and develops resistance to various forms of medical treatment.
Her academic and clinical work has centered heavily on major, high-impact studies investigating lung cancer, among other malignancies. Through this rigorous scientific inquiry, she and her teams have helped scientists gain a much deeper, more nuanced understanding of how tumors change over extended periods of time, why they metastasize, and why certain cancers ultimately become significantly harder to treat as the disease progresses. Experts note that these fundamental insights are critical for paving the way toward more personalized, highly targeted treatments that could drastically improve survival rates and long-term outcomes for patients facing challenging diagnoses.
The appointment has drawn widespread praise from leadership across the scientific and medical research communities. Michelle Mitchell, the Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK, warmly welcomed Professor Jamal-Hanjani to the role, emphasizing her proven track record of driving forward-thinking clinical investigations.
Reflecting on the appointment and the high caliber of leadership Professor Jamal-Hanjani brings to the institution, Michelle Mitchell stated that she brings deep experience of leading high-performing research teams that are delivering radical new insights into how cancer changes as it grows, spreads, resists treatment, and sometimes returns. This level of granular understanding is viewed by charity leaders as essential for translating laboratory breakthroughs into tangible clinical benefits for individuals undergoing cancer therapies.
Expressing her own perspective on stepping into the role, Professor Jamal-Hanjani underscored the profound sense of responsibility and privilege she feels in guiding the charity’s future clinical mission. She noted that Cancer Research UK possesses an extraordinary, long-standing track record of successfully turning fundamental scientific discoveries into real-world benefits for patients, and the opportunity to help shape that ongoing mission is something she is deeply privileged to take on.
Furthermore, Professor Jamal-Hanjani highlighted the vital importance of accelerating the translation of innovative research directly into better clinical outcomes for cancer patients. In discussing the operational landscape of modern medicine, she pointed to the National Health Service (NHS) as a uniquely powerful national asset. According to the newly appointed Chief Clinician, the infrastructure of the NHS plays an indispensable role in effectively connecting cutting-edge scientific discoveries with the everyday care delivered to patients across the country, bridging the gap between theoretical research and bedside application.
Professor Jamal-Hanjani’s tenure begins following the departure of Professor Charles Swanton, who dedicated nearly a decade to guiding the charity’s clinical research strategy through a period of significant scientific advancement in personalized medicine and cancer genomics. As the new Chief Clinician, Professor Jamal-Hanjani is expected to build upon this robust foundation, fostering continued collaboration among researchers, clinicians, and healthcare institutions nationwide as Cancer Research UK continues its ongoing fight against the disease.