I lead the company’s global research and development in lung cancer, a disease that despite many gains in recent years, remains the most common cause of cancer related mortality around the world. In my role, I partner with lung cancer teams from across AstraZeneca Oncology to rapidly progress our research and deliver on our commitment to cure more patients with the disease. 

My journey as a lung cancer researcher started as a postdoctoral research fellow in thoracic oncology at Vanderbilt University. Since then, I have dedicated my career to research and the care of patients with lung cancer.  

I have served 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 150 papers and book chapters. I am also an active member and served on the scientific committees of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Prior to completing a subspecialty fellowship in thoracic oncology at Vanderbilt University, I earned a medical degree from University of Toronto, where I trained in internal medicine and medical oncology, and also received a bachelor of science with high distinction and a masters of science in pharmacology.

Recent research has helped us better understand lung cancer biology and our approach to targeted therapy, immunotherapy and ADCs, individualizing therapy for more patients and addressing mechanisms of resistance. I’m excited about the work we’re doing to deliver the next wave of treatments for both small cell and non-small cell lung cancer.

Leora Horn Global Clinical Head for Lung Cancer and Lung Cancer Strategy

CURRENT ROLE

Global Clinical Head for Lung Cancer and Lung Cancer Strategy

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.

http://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.

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