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 steer the charity’s clinical research strategy and spearhead national efforts to improve cancer treatment, diagnosis, and patient care.
In her new capacity, Professor Jamal-Hanjani will take a leading role in shaping the direction of clinical research supported by the organization. She brings to the role an extensive academic and clinical background, currently serving as a Professor of Cancer Genomics and Metastasis at University College London (UCL). As an internationally recognized researcher, her work has long focused on some of the most complex challenges in oncology, specifically examining how cancer evolves, spreads throughout the body, and develops resistance to conventional treatments.
Her scientific contributions have heavily featured major investigative studies into lung cancer, a notoriously difficult disease to treat due to its adaptability and aggressive nature. Through her research, Professor Jamal-Hanjani and her colleagues have worked to help the scientific community better understand how tumors change and mutate over time, as well as the underlying biological mechanisms that cause certain cancers to become unresponsive to therapy. Experts believe that this foundational understanding is crucial for paving the way toward more precise, targeted treatments that can ultimately lead to significantly better outcomes for cancer patients.
The appointment has drawn widespread praise from leadership within the cancer research community. Michelle Mitchell, Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK, welcomed Professor Jamal-Hanjani to the position by highlighting her exceptional track record in guiding high-performing scientific teams and producing groundbreaking insights into oncology.
Discussing the appointment, Michelle Mitchell noted that Professor Jamal-Hanjani 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 expertise is expected to prove invaluable as the charity continues to fund and direct innovative clinical trials aimed at intercepting cancer at earlier stages and tackling treatment resistance head-on.
Reflecting on her new responsibilities, Professor Jamal-Hanjani expressed her honor in taking on the position and outlined her vision for the future of the charity’s clinical initiatives. She emphasized that Cancer Research UK has an extraordinary track record of turning scientific discovery into real-world benefit for patients, and stated that the chance to help shape that mission is something she feels deeply privileged to take on.
Furthermore, Professor Jamal-Hanjani emphasized her determination to accelerate the translation of laboratory research into tangible clinical outcomes for patients. In discussing the pathway from discovery to patient care, she highlighted the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) as a major national asset, noting its vital role in connecting cutting-edge scientific discoveries directly with patients who can benefit from them the most.
Professor Jamal-Hanjani officially assumed her new role in October 2026. In taking on the position, she succeeds Professor Charles Swanton, a distinguished clinician-scientist who held the role of Chief Clinician at Cancer Research UK since 2017, guiding the charity through a period of significant advancement in cancer genomics and personalized medicine.