Andy Pearson

Professor Andy Pearson is chair of the Solving Kids Cancer Scientific Advisory Board, Trustee of Neuroblastoma UK and member of the Programme Committee of Fight Kids Cancer. He was awarded a Life Time Achievement Award from Advances in Neuroblastoma Research in 2016. Pearson’s expertise is in the fields of drug development and neuroblastoma and has over 45 years of experience in clinical paediatric oncology.

Professor Pearson is formerly a Cancer Research UK Professor of Paediatric Oncology, at the Institute of Cancer Research and Honorary Consultant and Divisional Medical Director at the Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Trust. In May 2014 he retired due to ill health.

Prior to 2005, he had been Professor of Paediatric Oncology and Dean of Postgraduate Studies, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Professor Pearson trained at Newcastle upon Tyne and was Lilly International/Medical Research Council Travelling Fellow at the University of Minnesota, USA.

Professor Pearson is a Chair of ACCELERATE Paediatric Strategy Forum Oversight Committee, Senior Advisor to ACCELERATE which aims to improve drug development for children and adolescents with cancer. He is a member of the Executive of the Innovative Therapy for Children with Cancer Consortium (ITCC). He was Chair of NCRI Children’s Novel Agents Subgroup.

He was the first Chair of the United Kingdom Children Cancer Study Group (UKCCSG) Neuroblastoma Group and was the founding chair of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology Europe Neuroblastoma Group (SIOPEN). He and Professor Sue Cohn of Chicago created and chair the International Neuroblastoma Risk Group Consortium (INRG). He was President of Advances in Neuroblastoma Research Association and Chair of the UKCCSG. Professor Pearson was the Chief Investigator of the clinical trial ENSG 5 which changed the standard practice for the therapy of high risk neuroblastoma in Europe. He has published over 400 scientific manuscripts.