Renee Iacona Discusses AI/ML Expertise, Data Management, and Oncology

December 17, 2024

In this episode of Trends from the Trenches, host Stan Gloss and Renee Iacona, vice president of Oncology Biometrics, Oncology R&D at AstraZeneca, discuss the process of matching patients with the right treatments, data management (particularly around oncology), and the value of knowledge graphs. Iacona mentions the importance of having scientists who understand AI/ML and AI/ML experts who understand science. She also shares what AstraZeneca is doing with AI, how oncology has changed over the past 20 years, her thoughts on multimodal data, and advice for new scientists and start-up companies taking their first steps into the field.

Renee Iacona, Vice President, Oncology Biometrics, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca
Renee is Vice President, Oncology Biometrics, and Chief Operating Officer, Oncology R&D at AstraZeneca, where she oversees biometrics across early and late development stages of the oncology portfolio. Renee’s team is accountable for the design, delivery and interpretation of clinical trials, regulatory activity, and innovation including data science support.

Renee has authored and co-authored more than 20 papers and is a frequent speaker at conferences on topics including progression-free survival, biomarkers, pharmacogenetics and trial designs for early oncology.

Renee holds a PhD in pathology and a Master’s in Public Health from Vanderbilt University, and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Tennessee at Martin, in Martin, Tennessee.

Host Bio

Stan Gloss

As co-founder and Evangelist of BioTeam, Stan Gloss has been working to tell the stories of the intersection of science, data and technology since 2002. Gloss joined with fellow founding partners Bill Van Etten and Chris Dagdigian to form BioTeam in 2002 following his tenure in business development with AVAKI Corporation, a pioneer in global grid software solutions, and Blackstone Computing, a computing and IT consulting company for scientists, Gloss led the sales initiative that launched the company in the life sciences market. Gloss earned his MS at the University of Buffalo and was a department chairman and faculty member at Quinnipiac University.

A life science IT consulting firm at the intersection of science, data, and technology, BioTeam builds innovative scientific data ecosystems that close the gap between what scientists want to do with data—and what they can do. Learn more at www.bioteam.net.