Placement | Chief Information Officer, The Institute of Cancer Research

Following a successful global search by The RSA Group, the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) has appointed Dr Adrian Cottrell as Chief Information Officer. The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) is one of the world’s most influential cancer research institutes, pioneering the use of Big Data, machine learning and AI to understand cancer’s evolution and development of drug resistance, and identify new therapeutic strategies.

Dr Adrian Cottrell joins the ICR after nearly 30 years at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Dr Cottrell has decades of experience in research and development IT, having held a number of IT leadership roles. He established an internal IT consultancy which supported the formation of GSK in the early 2000s and notably the integration of GSK Japan into the broader organisation.

In the new position of Chief Information Officer, Adrian will lead an ambitious programme of information and communication technologies to support the full spectrum of the ICR’s research.

Dr Andy Theodorou, Senior Consultant and Nick Stephens, Executive Chairman at the RSA Group commented, “Adrian’s appointment followed an extensive global search and careful candidate due diligence by our team. It demonstrates the ability of The RSA Group to access and engage with the best candidates in their field.”

Dr Charmaine Griffiths, Chief Operating Officer at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, said: “The role of Chief Information Officer is very important in helping us to achieve our mission to make the discoveries to defeat cancer, and the fact that we have been able to attract an individual of Adrian Cottrell’s calibre is excellent news. We’d like to express our thanks to The RSA Group for their counsel at the early stage of the search, their help in navigating our scientific colleagues through the process and in clearly establishing what ICR needed from this role.”