As Senior Vice President of Late Development Oncology, I have the privilege of leading a global team dedicated to advancing innovative and novel therapies through late-stage clinical development and regulatory approval. Together, we drive a diverse portfolio across multiple indications, focusing on breakthrough medicines for patients. Every day, I am inspired by our team’s commitment to transforming care and improving outcomes for people living with cancer.  

Prior to my current role, I served as Head of Clinical Development, Late Oncology, leading the development and resourcing for the physicians and scientists responsible advancing studies from early signal seeking to Phase 3 registrational trials spanning multiple indications. In addition, I served as a Clinical Strategy Head for AstraZeneca’s global research and development in lung cancer, collaborating closely within the oncology franchise to strengthen our strategic focus and accelerate progress in this challenging disease area.      

My passion for oncology comes from more than a decade at Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center where I led the lung cancer program. I participated as principal investigator on several national and global lung cancer trials for immunotherapies, targeted therapies and novel treatments across early and late development and have published more than 175 papers and book chapters.

Driven by my commitment to people development, I completed a Masters in Health Professions Education from the University of Illinois and subsequently developed a faculty development program for clinician educators and researchers to support professional development and faculty advancements. I am also an active member, and served on the scientific committees, of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the European Society of Medical Oncology, the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

It is energizing to be part of AstraZeneca, working with brilliant teams at an inspiring pace, driven by a shared purpose, to bring new therapies to patients and eliminate cancer as a cause of death. We focus on learning, development and delivery of high-quality innovative studies to redefine cancer care. I’m excited about the work we’re doing to improve screening, identify novel populations and biomarkers as we deliver the next wave of treatments for patients living with cancer.

Leora Horn Senior Vice President, Late Development Oncology

CURRENT ROLE

Senior Vice President, Late Development Oncology

2020-2025

Head of Clinical Development, Late Oncology

2009-2020

Ingram Associate Professor of Cancer Research and Director of the Clinical Research Section of the Thoracic Oncology Program at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center; Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center

2009-2015

Assistant Vice Chairman for Faculty Development, Department of Medicine Vanderbilt University Medical Center

2008-2009

Fellowship in Thoracic Oncology, Vanderbilt University

Featured publications

Activity and safety of nivolumab, an anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor, for patients with advanced, refractory squamous non-small-cell lung cancer (CheckMate 063): a phase 2, single-arm trial.

Activity and safety of nivolumab, an anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor, for patients with advanced, refractory squamous non-small-cell lung cancer (CheckMate 063): a phase 2, single-arm trial. Rizvi NA, Mazières J, Planchard D, Stinchcombe TE, Dy GK, Antonia SJ, Horn L, Lena H, Minenza E, Mennecier B, Otterson GA, Campos LT, Gandara DR, Levy BP, Nair SG, Zalcman G, Wolf J, Souquet PJ, Baldini E, Cappuzzo F, Chouaid C, Dowlati A, Sanborn R, Lopez-Chavez A, Grohe C, Huber RM, Harbison CT, Baudelet C, Lestini BJ, Ramalingam SS. Lancet Oncol. 2015 Mar;16(3):257-65. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(15)70054-9.

Pembrolizumab for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.

Pembrolizumab for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. Garon EB, Rizvi NA, Hui R, Leighl N, Balmanoukian AS, Eder JP, Patnaik A, Aggarwal C, Gubens M, Horn L, Carcereny E, Ahn MJ, Felip E, Lee JS, Hellmann MD, Hamid O, Goldman JW, Soria JC, Dolled-Filhart M, Rutledge RZ, Zhang J, Lunceford JK, Rangwala R, Lubiniecki GM, Roach C, Emancipator K, Gandhi L. N Engl J Med. 2015 May 21;372(21):2018-28. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1501824.

AZD9291 in EGFR inhibitor-resistant non-small cell lung cancer.

AZD9291 in EGFR inhibitor-resistant non-small cell lung cancer. Jänne PA, Yang JC, Kim DW, Planchard D, Ohe Y, Ramalingam SS, Ahn MJ, Kim SW, Su WC, Horn L, Haggstrom D, Felip E, Kim JH, Frewer P, Cantarini M, Brown KH, Dickinson PA, Ghiorghiu S, Ranson M. N Engl J Med. 2015 Apr 30;372(18):1689-99. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1411817.

Nivolumab versus docetaxel in advanced nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer.

Nivolumab versus docetaxel in advanced nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer. Borghaei H, Paz-Ares L, Horn L, Spigel DR, Steins M, Ready NE, Chow LQ, Vokes EE, Felip E, Holgado E, Barlesi F, Kohlhäufl M, Arrieta O, Burgio MA, Fayette J, Lena H, Poddubskaya E, Gerber DE, Gettinger SN, Rudin CM, Rizvi N, Crinò L, Blumenschein GR Jr, Antonia SJ, Dorange C, Harbison CT, Graf Finckenstein F, Brahmer JR. Nivolumab versus docetaxel in advanced nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer. New England Journal of Medicine 373 (17): 1627-39.

Nivolumab alone and nivolumab plus ipilimumab in recurrent small cell lung cancer (Checkmate 032) a multicenter, open label, phase 1/2 trial.

Nivolumab alone and nivolumab plus ipilimumab in recurrent small cell lung cancer (Checkmate 032) a multicenter, open label, phase 1/2 trial. Antonia SJ, López-Martin JA, Bendell J, Ott PA, Taylor M, Eder JP, Jäger D, Pietanza MC, Le DT, de Braud F, Morse MA, Ascierto PA, Horn L, Amin A, Pillai RN, Evans J, Chau I, Bono P, Atmaca A, Sharma P, Harbison CT, Lin CS, Christensen O, Calvo E. Lancet Oncol. 2016 Jul;17(7):883-895. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(16)30098-5.

First-Line Nivolumab in Stage IV or Recurrent Non-Small Cell Lung cancer.

First-Line Nivolumab in Stage IV or Recurrent Non-Small Cell Lung cancer. Carbone DP, Reck M, Paz-Ares L, Creelan B, Horn L, Steins M, Felip E, van den Heuvel MM, Ciuleanu TE, Badin F, Ready N, Hiltermann TJN, Nair S, Juergens R, Peters S, Minenza E, Wrangle JM, Rodriguez-Abreu D, Borghaei H, Blumenschein GR Jr, Villaruz LC, Havel L, Krejci J, Corral Jaime J, Chang H, Geese WJ, Bhagavatheeswaran P, Chen AC, Socinski MA; N Engl J Med. 2017 Jun 22;376(25):2415-2426. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1613493.

Adjuvant chemotherapy with or without bevacizumab in patients with resected non-small-cell lung cancer (E1505): an open-label, multicentre, randomised, phase 3 trial.

Adjuvant chemotherapy with or without bevacizumab in patients with resected non-small-cell lung cancer (E1505): an open-label, multicentre, randomised, phase 3 trial. Wakelee HA, Dahlberg SE, Keller SM, Tester WJ, Gandara DR, Graziano SL, Adjei AA, Leighl NB, Aisner SC, Rothman JM, Patel JD, Sborov MD, McDermott SR, Perez-Soler R, Traynor AM, Butts C, Evans T, Shafqat A, Chapman AE, Kasbari SS, Horn L, Ramalingam SS, Schiller JH; Lancet Oncol. 2017 Dec;18(12):1610-1623. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(17)30691-5.

Monitoring therapeutic response and resistance: analysis of circulating tumor DNA in patients with ALK + lung cancer.

Monitoring therapeutic response and resistance: analysis of circulating tumor DNA in patients with ALK + lung cancer. Horn L, Whisenant JG, Wakelee H, Reckamp KL, Qiao H, Leal TA, Du L, Hernandez J, Huang V, Blumenschein GR, Waqar SN, Patel SP, Nieva J, Oxnard GR, Sanborn RE, Shaffer T, Garg K, Holzhausen A, Harrow K, Liang C, Lim LP, Li M, Lovly CM. J Thorac Oncol. 2019 Nov;14(11):1901-1911. doi: 10.1016/j.jtho.2019.08.003.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31446141/ 

COVID-19 in Patients With Thoracic Malignancies (TERAVOLT): First Results of an International, Registry-Based, Cohort Study

COVID-19 in Patients With Thoracic Malignancies (TERAVOLT): First Results of an International, Registry-Based, Cohort Study. Garassino MC, Whisenant JG, Huang LC, Trama A, Torri V, Agustoni F, Baena J, Banna G, Berardi R, Bettini AC, Bria E, Brighenti M, Cadranel J, De Toma A, Chini C, Cortellini A, Felip E, Finocchiaro G, Garrido P, Genova C, Giusti R, Gregorc V, Grossi F, Grosso F, Intagliata S, La Verde N, Liu SV, Mazieres J, Mercadante E, Michielin O, Minuti G, Moro-Sibilot D, Pasello G, Passaro A, Scotti V, Solli P, Stroppa E, Tiseo M, Viscardi G, Voltolini L, Wu YL, Zai S, Pancaldi V, Dingemans AM, Van Meerbeeck J, Barlesi F, Wakelee H, Peters S, Horn L; Lancet Oncol. 2020 Jul;21(7):914-922. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(20)30314-4.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045%2820%2930314-4/fulltext

Veeva ID: Z4-76859
Date of Preparation: August 2025