Dr Liz Pease, Vice President, Oncology Medical Affairs for Europe and Canada at AstraZeneca, has been awarded the 2025 Potts Medal by the University of Liverpool in recognition of her outstanding contributions to chemistry.
The Potts Medal, awarded annually in honour of distinguished chemist Harold Edwin Potts (BSc Chemistry 1906, MSc 1907), is chosen by members of the University of Liverpool’s student Chemistry Society, ChemSoc.
Dr Pease said: “I would like to thank the committee, students and faculty for this very unexpected award, which is a great honour. It was in the labs at this university where my curiosity in science was established, and it’s thanks to the encouragement of the faculty that I built the confidence to embrace future opportunities and challenges. I have since been proud and fortunate to forge a career in medicinal chemistry within the UK’s leading pharmaceutical company, working to develop new treatments for many different types of serious disease. It has been fantastic to meet current students and I wish them all the very best for their future careers.”
Dr Pease meets ChemSoc members
Dr Pease earned both her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from the University’s Department of Chemistry. Her PhD research, supervised by Emeritus Professor Nick Greeves, focused on enantioselective additions to carbonyl compounds using organolanthanide reagents.
With over 29 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, Dr Pease has played a key role in preclinical and clinical drug development, regulatory approvals, and product launches. Since joining AstraZeneca in 1996, she has led high-performing global teams and successfully guided multiple potential medicines through the drug development pipeline.
Prior to her current role leading the Oncology medical organisation across Europe and Canada at AstraZeneca, she was a Global Product Leader responsible for leading development of an immuno-oncology (IO) medicine in the field of genito-urinary, gynaecological and breast cancers.
She received the Potts Medal at a special ceremony held on campus, where she also delivered a lecture titled ‘Life’s Uncharted Journey’ to students, alumni, and staff, as per tradition for Potts Medal recipients.
Established in 1933, the Potts Medal honours outstanding contributions by University of Liverpool alumni to the field of chemistry. It was reinstated in 2014 thanks to a generous donation from Waters.