Management team

Driving our transformative science

Bahija Jallal, PhD

Chief Executive Officer

Bahija Jallal, PhD

Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Bahija Jallal is Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Board of Immunocore. Prior to joining Immunocore in January 2019, she was President of MedImmune, AstraZeneca’s global biologics research and development unit. She was also Executive Vice President of AstraZeneca and a member of its senior executive team.

Dr. Jallal serves on the Board of Anthem, Inc. and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Johns Hopkins University and the Board of Directors of the University of Maryland Health Sciences Research Park Corporation.

Bahija has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed publications and has more than 15 patents. She is a Council Member of the Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. She is also the immediate past president of the Association of Women in Science. Bahija was named the 2017 Woman of the Year by the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association.

Prior to joining MedImmune, Bahija was Vice President, drug assessment and development, at Chiron Corporation, where she successfully established the company’s translational medicine group. Prior to Chiron Corporation, she was part of the research team at Sugen, Inc.

Bahija received her PhD in Physiology from Université de Paris VI, France and conducted her post-doctorate work in molecular biology and oncology at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Germany.  

Brian Di Donato

Chief Financial Officer and Head of Strategy

Brian Di Donato

Chief Financial Officer and Head of Strategy

Brian joined Immunocore in April, 2020 from Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Brian has more than 20 years of financial and leadership experience and leads Immunocore’s corporate strategy, finance, investor relations, competitive intelligence and information technology areas. Brian is an experienced capital markets banker, investor and fund manager, having held positions as Managing Director and Co-Portfolio Manager at Sorin Capital Management and President and Chief Investment Officer at Capmark Investments. He previously worked in fixed-income capital markets as an Executive Director at Morgan Stanley and Vice President at UBS Securities. Brian holds a Master of Business Administration from New York University’s Stern School of Business and bachelors of science degrees in biology from Penn State University and in mechanical engineering from Villanova University. Prior to business school, he was an aerospace engineering officer in the U.S. Navy.

David Berman, MD, PhD

Head of Research and Development

David Berman, MD, PhD

Head of Research and Development

Dr. David Berman is Head of Research and Development. Over his career, David has worked on multiple immuno-oncology (IO) programs at all stages of development including leadership roles in developing four approved biologics. Most recently, David was Senior Vice President and Head of the AstraZeneca IO Franchise, responsible for the strategy and execution of the Company’s late stage IO program.  Prior to that, he was Head of the early stage oncology program at MedImmune. David has also held senior development roles at Bristol-Myers Squibb including as Head of the Immuno-oncology exploratory development team and global clinical lead for the first approved IO checkpoint inhibitor and one of the first monoclonal antibodies approved for myeloma. Beginning in academia and throughout his industry career, David has led efforts to understand the mechanism of action and predict benefit from IO therapies.

David received a Bachelor’s of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and MD and PhD from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. He trained in pathology at the National Cancer Institute followed by a fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Amy Judge-Prein

Chief Compliance Officer

Amy Judge-Prein

Chief Compliance Officer

Amy Judge-Prein is Chief Compliance Officer at Immunocore, having joined in September 2021. Prior to joining Immunocore, Amy was a Partner at Faegre Drinker, an AmLaw 50 law firm, for 14 years, where she practiced in the Government and Regulatory Affairs Group and chaired the FDA-Regulated Products Practice.  From 1996 to 2007, Amy practiced in-house with Eli Lilly and Company’s Law Division. Amy obtained her Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan and her Bachelor of Arts from Denison University.  She completed a federal judicial clerkship with the Honorable Sarah Evans Barker in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.

Andrew Hooker, PhD

Vice President of Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC)

Andrew Hooker, PhD

Vice President of Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC)

Dr Andy Hooker has global responsibility for analytical, formulation and bioprocess development, GMP biomanufacturing and supply chain activities, supporting both Clinical Development and Commercial Life Cycle Management. He has held a number of senior CMC positions with various pharmaceutical companies, including Ipsen Bioinnovation, Syntaxin Ltd; and UCB, Slough, where he successfully supported the CMC regulatory commercial approval of Cimzia, in both the US and EU, for the treatment of Crohns Disease and Rheumatoid Arthritis.  Andy was also previously a CMC Group Leader with Pfizer R&D in the UK, supporting the progression of oncology monoclonal antibody candidates throughout early clinical development. He has also held the position of Head of Analytical Services with the proteomics-company Oxford GlycoSciences. Andy has a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Kent and a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry from the University of East Anglia.

Annelise Vuidepot, PhD

Chief Technology Officer (CTO) & Head of Pipeline and Platform Research

Annelise Vuidepot, PhD

Chief Technology Officer (CTO) & Head of Pipeline and Platform Research

Annelise joined Immunocore in 2000 and has played a lead role in the design and engineering of the ImmTAC platform. Before joining Immunocore, Annelise was a postdoctoral researcher in the Biochemistry department in UCL. She gained her PhD in 1998 in Biophysics from the University of Paris. 

Clayton Robertson

Head of Investor Relations

Clayton Robertson

Head of Investor Relations

Clayton joined Immunocore in 2021. Most recently, he served as Director of Investor Relations at Actinium Pharmaceuticals (ATNM) and PureTech Health (PRTC). Prior to that, he led the investor relations efforts at Achillion Pharmaceuticals. He began his career in biotech investor relations and capital markets at The Trout Group, a premier life sciences advisory firm. Clayton holds a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Debra Nielsen

Chief of Staff

Debra Nielsen

Chief of Staff

Deb joined Immunocore in 2019. She was previously Head, Executive Communications at MedImmune, the global biopharmaceutical R&D unit of AstraZeneca, which she joined in 2008. Prior to that, Deb established the executive communications and issues management function at CareFirst BlueCross Blue Shield, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, that offers a comprehensive portfolio of health insurance products in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia. Deb received her master’s degree in journalism from the University of Maryland.

JoAnn Suzich, PhD

Head of Research

JoAnn Suzich, PhD

Head of Research

JoAnn joined Immunocore in April, 2020 after more than 30 years at MedImmune/AstraZeneca, where she most recently was Head of Microbial Sciences. Prior to that role, JoAnn led the Research function at MedImmune. Long considered one of the world’s leading infectious disease experts, JoAnn was responsible for critical studies that led to the development of the human papilloma virus vaccine for preventing cervical cancer. She was also involved in the development of the only FDA approved monoclonal antibody for preventing a viral disease.  JoAnn serves on the Board of Evaxion Biotech, is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research at the University of Maryland and is on the Scientific Steering Committee for the Human Vaccines Project. She earned her PhD in Biochemistry from Purdue University and completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biochemistry at the University of Minnesota. She is widely published and holds four patents. 

Koustubh Ranade, PhD

Head of Translational Medicine

Koustubh Ranade, PhD

Head of Translational Medicine

Koustubh joined Immunocore in 2019 as Head of Translational Medicine. He was most recently Vice President of Translational Medicine at MedImmune for all therapeutic areas, where he contributed to four product approvals, including durvalumab. With over three decades of research experience at Genentech, BMS, Stanford and NIH, Koustubh is a co-inventor on many patents, has published extensively in top-tier journals and has edited a book on the application of genomics to drug development.  Koustubh received his PhD in molecular genetics from the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Lily Hepworth

General Counsel

Lily Hepworth

General Counsel

Lily Hepworth is General Counsel at Immunocore, having joined in September 2018.  Prior to joining Immunocore, Lily worked at Centrica plc, a FTSE 100 energy and utilities company.  From 2012 to 2018, Lily was Centrica’s Head of Legal for Corporate, leading a team of lawyers supporting the Centrica group on corporate/plc matters including M&A, financing and shareholder interactions.  Prior to joining Centrica, Lily trained and worked at Linklaters LLP, a leading global law firm.  At Linklaters, Lily worked in the Corporate/M&A team, acting on a number of major transactions including the IPO of Glencore plc, then the largest ever IPO on the London Stock Exchange.  Lily obtained her Graduate Diploma in Law and Legal Practice Course qualifications from BPP Law School in London and also holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Bristol.

Mark Moyer

Senior Vice President, Head of Regulatory Affairs

Mark Moyer

Senior Vice President, Head of Regulatory Affairs

Mark joined Immunocore in 2018 to lead the regulatory affairs function. Prior to Immunocore, Mark was Vice President, Global Regulatory Sciences – Oncology at Bristol-Myers Squibb, where he led regulatory approval for oncology projects, including Opdivo, Empliciti, Yervoy and Sprycel . Before joining BMS, Mark spent 22 years at Sanofi-Aventis Pharmaceuticals where he oversaw the US regulatory development group of 70 professionals for all therapeutic areas.  Mark earned his master of science degree in Immunology and Biochemistry from SUNY Medical School and his bachelor of science degree in biology/chemistry from Houghton College.  

Mohammed Dar, MD

Head of Clinical Development and Chief Medical Officer

Mohammed Dar, MD

Head of Clinical Development and Chief Medical Officer

Mohammed joined Immunocore in April 2019 as Head of Clinical Development and Chief Medical Officer. Mohammed has over 15 years of pharmaceutical industry experience in the field of oncology.

Before joining Immunocore, Mohammed was Vice President, Clinical Development, Oncology, R&D at MedImmune  and spent 10 years at GSK in roles of increasing responsibility focused on early clinical development in oncology. While at MedImmune, he led the clinical trials and teams supporting the approval of anti-PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitor, durvalumab, and anti-CD22 immunotoxin, moxetumomab. Mohammed received his Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his M.D. and Internal Medicine training from Duke University School of Medicine. He went on to complete his Fellowship in Hematology and Oncology at the National Cancer Institute.

Ralph Torbay

Head of Commercial

Ralph Torbay

Head of Commercial

Ralph Torbay is Immunocore’s Head of Commercial. Ralph is an experienced commercial leader with a proven track record of successful oncology launches and significant immuno-oncology (IO) experience. Prior to joining Immunocore, Ralph was Global Head of Haematology marketing at AstraZeneca where in addition to helping to build their global Haematology franchise, he launched three major drugs in oncology, including the first checkpoint inhibitor in stage III unresectable NSCLC. Prior to AstraZeneca, Ralph was at Novartis Oncology where he held roles of increasing responsibility within the commercial organization and worked on five products in several disease areas across Haematology and Oncology.

Ralph earned his Masters of Business Administration degree at the Simon Graduate School of Business, University of Rochester; and a Bachelor of Science in Biotechnology from Rochester Institute of Technology.

Stephen Megit, PhD

Vice President of Business Development Europe

Stephen Megit, PhD

Vice President of Business Development Europe

Stephen began his career at Immunocore in 2007, where he has delivered partnerships with Genentech, GSK, MedImmune and Eli Lilly. He received his doctorate degree from the University of Cardiff.

Tina St. Leger

Chief Human Resources Officer

Tina St. Leger

Chief Human Resources Officer

Tina joined Immunocore in January 2022 to lead the human resources function. Prior to Immunocore, Tina was chief human resources officer at GW Pharmaceuticals and led the company’s transition following its acquisition by Jazz Pharmaceuticals. Tina gained significant experience in HR working across a number of areas at GSK including Emerging Markets, Europe and the global therapy areas, and as head of human resources for ViiV Healthcare.  Tina began her pharmaceutical career in 2005 following an earlier career in finance at Marks and Spencer. She graduated with a chemistry degree from the University of St. Andrews

Jon Kiburz

Head of Business Development

Jon Kiburz

Head of Business Development

Jon joined Immunocore in March 2022 from AstraZeneca, where he was Head of Oncology R&D Business Development Transactions. Jon has more than ten years of life sciences business development and strategy experience. Jon received a Master of Business Administration from Kellogg School of Management, a Juris Doctor from Northwestern University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in biochemical sciences from Harvard University. Prior to his time at AstraZeneca, he was a strategy consultant at BCG and L.E.K. consulting and a life sciences transactional attorney at Ropes & Gray.

Sébastien Desprez

Head of Communications

Sébastien Desprez

Head of Communications

Sébastien has become Head of Communications mid-2022. Prior to Immunocore, he has worked with Adaptimmune where he was VP Communications and Investor Relations. In this role, as well as at ViiV Healthcare and GSK Oncology, he was in charge of building and leading integrated communications strategies and teams. He started his communications career at Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, in Paris, before working in various agencies including his last agency role, from 2002 to 2011, at Ketchum where he led the UK and European healthcare teams. Sébastien holds a masters degree in interpretation and translation from Université Paris 8, Paris.