Fiona Rowan

Drug Development Project Leader | Biotech Programme Manager | Operational Delivery

London Area, United Kingdom

About

Experienced professional in programme management, operational delivery & team leadership in biotech. I thrive in roles that allow me to use my organisational and leadership skills to create order out of chaos and facilitate scientists to do their best work. I have a deep scientific background in protein production & characterisation, and a keen interest in oncology drug discovery & development.

Experience

  • Drug Development Project Leader at Cancer Research UK (CRUK)
    Jan 2026 - Present · 6 mos

    I lead multidisciplinary drug development project teams, driving the delivery of science-based decision-making through exploratory, preclinical and clinical phases of development. Accountable for all aspects of the drug development programme including drug manufacture and formulation, preclinical toxicology and efficacy, biomarker development, clinical study design and clinical trial management, driving the coordination between functions to achieve project development goals within scope, on time and on budget.

  • Programme Manager at BenevolentAI
    Nov 2021 - Jan 2025 · 3 yrs 3 mos

    - Project management of a portfolio of small molecule drug discovery projects across disease areas (oncology, antiviral, fibrosis), from Hit ID to IND submission - Responsible for project plans & timelines, budget forecasting & monitoring, risks, operational delivery, and project governance. - Alliance manager for pharma-partnered projects and managed CROs & consultants to enable effective outsourcing and project delivery. - Effectively worked with internal stakeholders (all levels incl. C-suite) including legal, finance, business development & clinical in additional to all scientific disciplines, influencing decision-making & prioritisation.

  • LabGenius (3 yrs 7 mos)
    • Senior Scientist
      Dec 2020 - Oct 2021 · 11 mos

    • Biologics Scientist
      Apr 2018 - Dec 2020 · 2 yrs 9 mos

      - Team Lead for Protein Science team: responsible for planning, executing and delivering the team's research goals, in close collaboration with molecular biologists, automation engineers, data scientists and program manager. The Protein Science team establishes and executes all protein expression and characterisation aspects of LabGenius' discovery platform, including high-throughput validation of novel candidate molecules. - Workstream Lead Deputy: responsible for alliance management and overseeing execution and delivery of scientific aspects of LabGenius' drug discovery partnership with Tillotts Pharma AG - I also work closely with the commercial team to develop technical strategy proposals and evaluate new targets

  • Postdoctoral Research Associate at Imperial College London
    Jan 2017 - Mar 2018 · 1 yr 3 mos

    - Multidisciplinary project targeting a protein-protein interaction involved in antibiotic resistance - Research group specialised in early stage drug discovery and target validation - Developed novel expression and purification strategies for a Salmonella toxin

  • Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University of Southampton
    Oct 2014 - Dec 2016 · 2 yrs 3 mos

    - Member of multi-disciplinary team of chemists, biochemists and cell biologists using randomised DNA libraries for ultra-high-throughput identification of lead compounds - Specialised in biophysical characterisation of peptide based inhibitors of protein-protein interactions, for projects ranging from bacterial infection to cancer - Group deputy and molecular biology lab manager