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 accelerate breakthroughs in cancer treatment. Operating at the forefront of oncology, Professor Jamal-Hanjani brings a wealth of academic rigor, clinical expertise, and pioneering research experience to one of the world’s leading cancer research and awareness organizations.
In her new capacity, Professor Jamal-Hanjani will play a pivotal role in shaping how the charity approaches clinical research, guiding strategic decisions that bridge the gap between laboratory discoveries and real-world medical applications for patients. Her appointment marks a significant transition for the organization as it continues to tackle some of the most complex challenges in modern medicine, particularly concerning how tumors adapt, spread, and evade therapeutic interventions.
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 acknowledged within the international scientific community as a leading authority on cancer evolution, tumor heterogeneity, and the mechanisms by which cancers develop resistance to conventional and targeted treatments.
Her extensive academic and clinical background includes leading complex, large-scale studies investigating lung cancer. Through this meticulous work, Professor Jamal-Hanjani and her research teams have helped the global scientific community gain deeper insights into how tumors change over time and why certain malignancies become increasingly difficult to treat. These crucial insights are widely regarded as foundational steps toward developing more personalized, precise, and targeted treatments capable of delivering significantly improved survival rates and long-term outcomes for patients facing challenging cancer diagnoses.
The appointment has drawn widespread praise from leadership across the scientific and medical sectors. Michelle Mitchell, Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK, welcomed Professor Jamal-Hanjani to the role by highlighting her exceptional track record in leading high-impact scientific endeavors.
Reflecting on the appointment, Michelle Mitchell noted that Professor Jamal-Hanjani brings deep experience of leading high-performing research teams that are actively delivering radical new insights into how cancer changes as it grows, spreads, resists treatment, and sometimes returns. This capability to decode the dynamic nature of cancer is seen as a vital asset for the charity as it strives to outsmart a disease that continuously evolves within the human body.
Expressing her own perspective on taking up the prestigious post, Professor Jamal-Hanjani emphasized her enthusiasm for the charity’s overarching mission and the profound responsibility of guiding its future clinical initiatives. She remarked that Cancer Research UK has an extraordinary track record of turning scientific discovery into real-world benefit for patients, and the chance to help shape that mission is something she feels deeply privileged to take on.
Furthermore, Professor Jamal-Hanjani outlined her strategic vision for the role, emphasizing the urgent need to accelerate the translation of cutting-edge research into tangible improvements in cancer care and patient outcomes. She highlighted the National Health Service (NHS) as a monumental asset in this endeavor, noting its unique capacity to connect foundational scientific discoveries directly with patients in clinical settings, thereby streamlining the path from bench to bedside.
Professor Jamal-Hanjani officially commenced her tenure as Chief Clinician in October 2026. In taking on the position, she succeeds Professor Charles Swanton, a distinguished clinician-scientist who held the role with distinction since 2017, steering the organization through a period of remarkable scientific advancement in genomics and personalized medicine.
As cancer research continues to enter a new era defined by precision medicine, artificial intelligence, and genomic profiling, Professor Jamal-Hanjani’s leadership is expected to further reinforce Cancer Research UK’s position at the cutting edge of global oncology. Through her ongoing dedication to understanding tumor evolution and therapeutic resistance, the scientific community anticipates continued strides toward more effective interventions for patients across the United Kingdom and beyond.