Anne Phelan
About Anne Phelan
Anne Phelan is the CSO and Cambridge Site Head at BenevolentAI, with over 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical drug discovery and expertise in pre-clinical portfolio management and technology investment.
Title and Current Role
Anne Phelan is currently the CSO and Cambridge Site Head at BenevolentAI. She oversees strategic initiatives and operations at the Cambridge site, focusing on advancing the company's preclinical and clinical research goals in drug discovery.
Professional Experience at BenevolentAI
Anne Phelan has held several notable positions at BenevolentAI, including VP of Drug Discovery from 2015 to 2017, SVP Head of Preclinical Development and Cambridge Site Head from 2018 to 2019, and currently as CSO and Cambridge Site Head. Her roles have focused on preclinical portfolio management, technology investment, and the generation of pharmacology data to drive drug discovery initiatives.
Experience at Mission Therapeutics
Anne held senior leadership roles at Mission Therapeutics in Cambridge, UK. She was SVP Head of Discovery Research from 2017 to 2018 and EVP Head of Research in 2018. In these roles, she contributed significantly to the company's research strategies, focusing on drug discovery and development.
Tenure at Pfizer Neusentis
Anne Phelan has an extensive background from her time at Pfizer Neusentis, where she held multiple senior positions. Notably, she was the COO and Head of Pharmacology, Executive Director and Head of several research departments, and led the In Vitro Pharmacology/Molecular Biology Discipline. Her work there spanned across areas such as epigenetics, ion channel research, and primary pharmacology.
Education and Early Research
Anne received her BSc (Hons) in Genetics and her PhD in Genetics from the University of Liverpool. She later worked as a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the MRC Institute of Virology in Glasgow. Her early career also includes a role as a Senior Scientist at Phogen Ltd, where she contributed to groundbreaking research in molecular biology and pharmacology.
Key Areas of Expertise
Anne specializes in areas like drug discovery, molecular pharmacology, plate-based screening, genomics, technology investment, and portfolio coordination. She has a strong background in leading scientific teams, managing business operations, and overseeing clinical and preclinical project leadership.