As the Head of Immuno-Oncology, Discovery and the Oncology Cell Therapy Unit at AstraZeneca, I have a unique opportunity to apply my background as an immunologist and physician-scientist to translate science into potentially transformative medicines.

Our Immuno-Oncology Discovery team spans all stages of discovery, from target identification and validation to clinical candidate selection. We are also focused on generating preclinical predictive models to identify patients with a higher likelihood of benefitting from different treatments. Beyond this, we are exploring the possibility of living medicines – cell therapies – to rebuild the body’s own ability to recognise and attack tumours, destroy the cancer cells and achieve cure. 

An immunologist and physician-scientist by training, I specialised in managing patients with immunodeficiencies. My research has focused on translational immunology, which includes cancer immunology and immunotherapy. My early work related to human viral immunity and restoring anti-viral immune responses through cellular immunotherapy. Through my research, I developed a strong interest in tumour neoantigens – believed to play a dominant role in the immune system’s response to cancer – and have contributed to the discovery of a novel class of tumour antigens.

PL

I am particularly excited about the innovative work in cell therapies, which is principally focussed on T cell therapeutics. A key aspect of our research is how we can engineer a better T cell – taking what nature has given us to the next level to detect and eradicate cancer more effectively while sparing healthy cells.

Mark Cobbold Vice President Discovery and Head of Oncology Cell Therapy, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca

Award

2004: Young Immunologist of the Year, British Society for Immunology

Award

2005: Best Presentation Award, British Society for Bone Marrow Transplantation

Award

2012: Overall Winner, BIG Idea Award, University of Birmingham

CURRENT ROLE

Vice President Discovery and Head of Oncology Cell Therapy, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca

2015-present

Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center. Founded Cobbold Lab at MGH Center for Cancer Immunology, which was the first to demonstrate immunity against cancer-specific phosphopeptide antigens is present in healthy individuals and patients with cancer; the first to discover major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class-I displayed N-Acetylglucosamine and methylarginine peptide neoantigens and demonstrated these are also targets of immunity in humans; and developed three novel antibody engineering approaches to redirect T-cells against tumours with high specificity (APEC, TEAC and ATTAC)

2011-2019

Co-founded five biotechnology companies over eight years (SeraScience, PhosImmune, Revitope Oncology, Gritstone Oncology and GigaMune)

2014-2015

Reader in Translational Immunology, Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Immune Regulation, University of Birmingham (UK)

 Featured publications

Aberrant X chromosome skewing and acquired clonal hematopoiesis in adult-onset common variable immunodeficiency.

Wong GK, Barmettler S, Heather JM, Millar D, Penny SA, Huissoon A, Richter A, Cobbold M. JCI Insight. 2019 Jul 25;4(14). Publication link.

Immune dysregulation in immunodeficiency disorders: The role of T-cell receptor sequencing.

Wong GK, Heather JM, Barmettler S, Cobbold M. J Autoimmun. 2017 Jun;80:1-9. Publication link.

Identification of Glyco¬peptides as Posttranslationally Modified Neoantigens in Leukemia.

Malaker SA, Penny SA, Steadman LG, Myers PT, Loke JC, Raghavan M, Bai DL, Shabanowitz J, Hunt DF, Cobbold M. Cancer Immunol Res. 2017 May;5(5):376-384. Publication link. 

Accelerated Loss of TCR Repertoire Diversity in Common Variable Immunodeficiency.

Wong GK, Millar D, Penny S, Heather JM, Mistry P, Buettner N, Bryon J, Huissoon AP & Cobbold M. J. Immunol. 2016 Sep 1;197(5):1642-9. Publication link.

 

MHC Class I-Associated Phosphopeptides Are the Targets of Memory-like Immunity in Leukemia.

Cobbold M*, De La Peña H, Norris A, Polefrone JM, Qian J, English AM, Cummings KL, Penny S, Turner JE, Cottine J, Abelin JG, Malaker SA, Zarling AL, Huang HW, Goodyear O, Freeman SD, Shabanowitz J, Pratt G, Craddock C, Williams ME, Hunt DF, Engelhard VH. Sci Transl Med. 2013 Sep 18;5(203):203ra125. *Corresponding Author. Publication link.

Phosphorylation-dependent interaction between antigenic peptides and MHC class I: a molecular basis for the presentation of transformed self.

Mohammed F†, Cobbold M†, Zarling AL, Salim M, Barrett-Wilt GA, Shabanowitz J, Hunt DF, Engelhard VH, Willcox BE. Nat Immunol. 2008 Nov;9(11):1236-43. †Co-first authorship. Publication link.

Veeva ID: Z4-49218
Date of Preparation: October 2022