Ashley Easter reflecting on his journey at AstraZeneca

Ashley Easter shared a post on LinkedIn:

“Seven years ago, I had the opportunity to join AstraZeneca to work on the development of oncology diagnostics. I now work in the Global Oncology Diagnostics team, solving complex in-market diagnostic problems and improving patient access to testing and treatments.

Today, I wanted to reflect on my journey – let’s take a look back!

𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐑𝐃 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐫: Our team’s work on improving access to HRD testing has been highly impactful and rewarding. We’re now looking forward to applying the same philosophy of democratisation to tackle even greater diagnostic challenges in the near future.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬: The broadening of diagnostic approaches, including widespread NGS panel testing, real-world implementation of genetic signatures and the application of novel AI techniques is bringing great benefits for patients and physicians.

Moving forwards, we need to find efficiencies, consolidate testing approaches and improve the provision of diagnostic information provided to MDTs.

𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: We’re always evolving and learning from our in-market colleagues, external experts and diagnostic partner companies to optimise how we work.

For instance, we’re aiming to understand the workflow challenges of new sample types or the need for yet another biomarker test from the same tissue sample.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐬: We’re set to bring novel approaches to market, and I’m excited to see these being adopted in real-world practice to benefit patients.

Every new biomarker and test comes with challenges, but we’ve got the team, the experience and the partnerships in place to deliver on cutting-edge science.

Thank you to my wonderful team, colleagues and leaders who have all made the last seven years such a fulfilling and exciting time – I look forward to our work ahead!!”

Source: Ashley Easter/LinkedIn

Ashley Easter is the Head of Strategy and Partnerships and Global Oncology Diagnostics at AstraZeneca. Previously he was a Board Member at Precision Cancer Consortium and an Innovation Consultant and Project Manager at Innovia Technology.