Professor Jean-Charles Soria appointed General Director of Gustave Roussy

By an order, the Minister of Health and Solidarity, Madame Agnès Buzyn, appointed Professor Jean-Charles Soria as General Director of Gustave Roussy for a term of five years. He will assume his responsibilities 6 January 2020. He has an international reputation in the fields of precision medicine, immunotherapy and lung cancer. He has always striven to apply the latest advances to patient care.

During his first term at the head of the leading European Cancer Centre, Professor Soria will have to embark rapidly on preparation of a new Hospital Plan based on a desire to transform the organisation. The objective will be to define Gustave Roussy’s medical and scientific vision, ambition and aspirations for the period 2020-2025, in addition to its academic role in the Paris-Saclay University and its national and international profile, in particular within the Unicancer Federation where it aims to contribute actively.  

Professor Soria intends to base the preparation and introduction of this new Hospital Plan on participation by all professional staff (medical, nursing, scientific, administrative, etc). Thus, common goals will be tackled on a broad front: placing the patient at the centre of the hospital approach, combining medical excellence with compassion, modernising the hospital stock in keeping with international standards, investing in digital and artificial intelligence contributions to health care, and reinventing and strengthening internal communication. In this way the aims of an institution, unique of its type, will remain high and it will be able to fulfil all of its rich and specialised potential, which is that of those who are committed to it.       

Professor Soria is aged 48. He is a Medical Oncologist and Professor of Medicine at Paris-Saclay University. He holds a doctorate in molecular biology. He completed his training during a two year appointment at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, where in addition he was an associate professor from 2013 to 2017. He was also an elected member of the Oncology Section of the National University Council for 3 years and was the Director of the Gustave-Roussy SIRIC Socrate (Integrated Cancer Research Site) over 5 years (2012-2017). He studied health management at the Harvard Business School in 2017-2018. Over the last three years, Professor Soria has appeared in the list of the most influential research scientists in the world (Web of Science Group’s highly cited researchers). He is author or co-author of more than 630 articles in leading international journals.

Since September 2017, Professor Soria has been Senior Vice-President, Research & Development in Oncology, with AstraZeneca in Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States, where he leads research teams responsible for strategy and for development of new agents in immuno-oncology, cell therapy and conjugated antibodies.

During his career, Professor Soria has been the recipient of a number of prizes, the latest being the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) award presented in 2018.