Emma Lees BSc, PhD

Emma Lees, Ph.D., joined Jounce in February 2017 and brings to the company more than 25 years of research and development experience in the life sciences industry. As Senior Vice President of Research, Dr. Lees is leading our early discovery programs and Jounce’s Translational Science Platform.

Prior to joining the company, she served as vice president of oncology biotherapeutics for Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research and previously served as vice president of oncology and site head for NIBR’s Emeryville, CA site. Her responsibilities included leading research to identify and develop novel oncology biotherapeutics including antibody drug conjugates, bispecifics and other novel format antibodies.

She served as part of the global oncology leadership team building the strategy and implementation of the Oncology portfolio for Novartis. Prior to Novartis, Dr. Lees served as senior director of discovery research at Schering-Plough Biopharma, where she held various positions of responsibility during her 14 years of tenure with the company.

Dr. Lees received her Ph.D. from Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London, UK, and completed her postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School in Boston. She received her B.S. Hons in biochemistry from University of Bristol.