James Cassidy Joins Roche as Head of Translational Medicine - Oncology

NUTLEY, N.J., June 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Roche is pleased to announce that James (Jim) Cassidy, MD, PhD, will join Roche on July 1 as Head of Translational Medicine in the Oncology Discovery and Translational Area (DTA) in Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED).  

"We are very fortunate to have Jim join Roche," said Mike Burgess, MD, PhD, Global Head, Oncology DTA and Head, Large Molecule Research in pRED at Roche. "With his rich and deep experience in oncology research, we believe he is the perfect fit for the Translational Medicine position.  He brings new energy and inspiration to our group that will allow us to enhance our development of new, more effective treatments for cancer patients."

"I have been involved in oncology new drug development for all of my professional career and see this move as a way of enabling me to continue to do this with access to a first-class pipeline of agents and world leading scientists in the field," said Jim Cassidy.  "I am excited about the prospect of developing highly innovative cancer medicines, which have real benefits to patients."

A British native, Jim was previously Professor of Oncology, Head of the Department of Cancer Research and Head of the Division of Cancer Sciences and Molecular Pathology at the University of Glasgow, Scotland.  During his tenure, Jim reorganized the clinical department and chaired the Cancer Division, which links all disciplines involved in cancer research within the University. His major research interests include Telomerase, DNA repair, drug resistance and molecular pharmacology of anti-cancer drugs.  Prior to the University of Scotland, Jim was the first Professor of Oncology at Aberdeen University in the United Kingdom, where he developed both an academic unit of clinical oncology and a laboratory-based cancer research group.  As such, he recruited senior clinical staff with national reputations in the treatment of lung and breast cancer to complement his own major interest in colorectal cancer.

Jim received his MD, MSc in Clinical Pharmacology and Doctorate from the University of Glasgow. He was Senior Lecturer in Oncology from 1992-94 and his oncology background includes stints at the University of Edinburgh and Western Infirmary Glasgow.

Jim chairs the West of Scotland Cancer Research Network and is a member of numerous other societies and committees such as Cancer Research UK, American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American and British Associations for Cancer Research, Association of Cancer Physicians and National Cancer Research Institute.  He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.  

Jim is a member of the editorial boards of Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology, Expert Reviews of Anticancer Therapy, European Journal of Cancer, Investigational New Drugs and the British Journal of Cancer (where he was clinical subject editor from 2003 to 2008).  He regularly reviews manuscripts for Thorax and Annals of Oncology, as well as grant applications to various cancer charities.  Jim is also the author of two theses, five books, nearly a dozen book chapters and more than 200 peer-reviewed papers and manuscripts.

About Roche

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is a leader in research-focused healthcare with combined strengths in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Roche is the world's largest biotech company with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, virology, inflammation, metabolism and CNS. Roche is also the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics, tissue-based cancer diagnostics and a pioneer in diabetes management. Roche's personalized healthcare strategy aims at providing medicines and diagnostic tools that enable tangible improvements in the health, quality of life and survival of patients. In 2010, Roche had over 80,000 employees worldwide and invested over 9 billion Swiss francs ($8.7B US) in R&D. The Group posted sales of 47.5 billion Swiss francs ($45.6B US). Genentech, Inc., is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche has a majority stake in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more information: www.roche.com or www.roche-nutley.com.

SOURCE Roche