Viia VALGE-ARCHER is Senior Director, External R&D Scientific and Clinical Alliances at AstraZeneca.  Her research interests are in tumour immunology, particularly identification of barriers to development of an effective anti-tumour immune response, and the discovery and development of novel therapeutic approaches.  Viia received her PhD from MIT, where her interest in immunology was sparked studying T cell receptor signalling with Anjana Rao at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.  Following postdoc research on leukaemia oncogenes in the laboratory of Dr. Terry Rabbitts at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, she joined Cambridge Antibody Technology and has over 20 years of experience in large and small molecule pharmaceutical R&D.  Viia joined AstraZeneca from MedImmune in 2016, where her current role has responsibility for initiating and supporting multiple facets of AZ engagement with the external scientific community, including collaborations, consortia and advisory panels.