Speaker Profile
Ph.D., Director (Epigenomics) Translational Medicine, R&D Oncology, AstraZeneca
Biography
James leads the search and evaluation of novel epigenomics and liquid biopsy technologies in Translational Medicine at AstraZeneca. His role involves building internal assay capabilities and fostering external collaborations to support clinical studies. His liquid biopsy focus is on MRDmonitoring and, to a lesser extent, cancer early detection, testing methods with contrived and clinical samples; his epigenomics focus is on DNA methylation. His publications include: Breast cancer molecular taxonomy (Nature 2012), ctDNA amplicon (STM 2012) exome (Nature 2013), and an sWGS CNV pipeline for WES (Cell 2016); and most recently the MATRIX commentary (JCO 2024). Before AstraZeneca, he led the Genomics Core at the CRUK Cambridge Institute and has over 20 years of experience with genometranscriptomesingle-cell technologies. He co-authored major cancer genomics papers. An NGS community thought-leader and occasional blogger, he lives in Wymondham, Norfolk, with his family.
Session Abstract – PMWC 2025 Silicon Valley
Track Chair: Adrian Lee, UPMC
- PMWC Award Ceremony
Pioneer Honoree: Victor Velculescu, Johns Hopkins
Luminary Honoree: Nicola Aceto, ETH Zurich
- Keynote: Early Detection of Cancer using Cell-free DNA Fragmentomes
- Victor Velculescu, Johns Hopkins - Keynote: The Power of a Blood Sample: Predictive Diagnostics and Transforming Healthcare
- Matthew Rabinowitz, Natera - Improving Sensitivity of MRD and MCED - Tumor-agnostic vs. Tumor-informed ctDNA Approaches
Chair: Adrian Lee, University of Pittsburgh
- Marija Balic, UPMC
- Ola Carl Landgren, University of Miami
- Carl Barrett, Precede Biosciences
- Jonathan Beer, BMS
- Innovative Approaches in Liquid Biopsy
Chair: Victor Velculescu, Johns Hopkins
- Adam Widman, MSKCC
- Brian Hashemi, Novigenix
- Sequencing Accuracy in Early Detection and MRD (PANEL)
Chair: Alex Sockell, PacBio
- James Hadfield, AstraZeneca
- Keynote: Keynote: Circulating Tumor Cells
- Nicola Aceto, ETH Zurich - Circulating Tumor Cells: The New Frontier
Chair: Nicola Aceto, ETH Zurich
- Min Yu, University of Maryland School of Medicine
- Matteo Ligorio, UTSW - Precision Liquid Biopsies: Innovations Across the Cancer Continuum – From Early Detection to Long-Term Monitoring
Chair: Tom Beer, Exact Sciences
- Elizabeth (Betsy) O’Donnell, Dana Farber Cancer Institute
- Arnaud Papin, Merck
- PMWC Showcase
- Wendy Winckler, Droplet Biosciences - Multi-Cancer Early Detection: Innovations and Real-World Evidence (PANEL)
Chair: Peter Bach, Delfi Dx
- Joshua Cohen, Haystack
- Lauren Leiman, BLOODPAC
- Eric Klein, Grail Bio
- Tom Beer, Exact Sciences - PMWC Showcase
- Varsha Rao, Claret Bio - PMWC Award Ceremony and Keynote
Luminary Honoree: Matthew Rabinowitz, Natera
