Bob Li, SVP Global Head of Medical Affairs of Oncology at AstraZeneca, shared on LinkedIn:
“What does true leadership look like when an entire field is being rapidly redefined by new science?
We recently had the honor of hosting Dr. Vivek S. Kavadi, CEO of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), for a leadership session.
As a practicing radiation oncologist, academic scholar, business administrator, and leader of one of the world’s most influential professional societies in oncology, Vivek brings a unique perspective on navigating transformation in oncology.
Three takeaways deeply resonated with me:
- Vision without action is just a dream.
In oncology, we aren’t short on big ambitions. From transforming patient outcomes to expanding access to advanced therapies, there is ambition everywhere. In fact, at AstraZeneca, our bold ambition is to eliminate cancer as a cause of death. But vision only earns its keep when paired with execution. Ambition must be translated into daily, systematic progress. Within the Medical Affairs function at AstraZeneca, we practice this daily by building the infrastructure needed to deliver future innovations to patients and by ensuring the right processes are in place to enable access. - Personal habits compound over a career.
Talent gets you noticed, but daily habits define your impact. True leadership is not measured by marquee moments; it shows up in how we prepare, follow through, and stay consistent when no one is watching. This is something I have reflected on often throughout my own career across clinical care, research, and now Medical Affairs. Those experiences have shown me how real-world barriers can shape a patient’s access to healthcare, and how listening closely, staying patient-first, and turning ambition into practical progress can help shift that dial. Leadership does not happen in silos; it happens consistently, every day. - Hurry up slowly.
Given the urgency for patients, the temptation is always to sprint. But driving sustainable systems change, including building multidisciplinary team capabilities, laying the groundwork for therapy access, and strengthening external partnerships, requires us to move with urgency while building with precision.
Many of the projects we are working on in Medical Affairs aim to do just that: bridge the gap between our ambition and what’s possible on the ground, helping us make scalable patient impact across the globe.
Thank you, Dr. Kavadi, for a masterclass in thoughtful leadership. I am excited as we head into the ASTRO Annual Meeting later this month with a ‘pioneers’ mindset, not of settlers’.
I’m excited for what the future holds for AstraZeneca, ASTRO and MARS as we continue to grow our partnership!”
You can also read:
Bob Li: Accelerating Equitable Clinical Trial Access Worldwide
