# Ahsan Arozullah

> Ahsan Arozullah, MD, MPH is Executive Vice President of Research and Development and Chief Medical Officer at TerSera Therapeutics, a Deerfield, Illinois specialty pharmaceutical company focused on oncology, CNS disorders and rare disease. A Northwestern-trained physician with a Harvard MPH, he spent over 15 years at Astellas, rising to Senior Vice President and Head of Oncology Development, where he helped validate claudin 18.2 as a cancer target through the pivotal SPOTLIGHT trial of zolbetuximab. He pairs two decades of clinical research with academic roots in health literacy at the University of Illinois and serves on the board of Darul Qasim College, working at the intersection of medicine and Islamic bioethics.

- **Role:** Executive Vice President, Research and Development & Chief Medical Officer at TerSera Therapeutics
- **Organizations:** TerSera Therapeutics, Astellas, Takeda, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Darul Qasim College, Initiative on Islam and Medicine, American Society of Clinical Oncology, European Society for Medical Oncology
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science in Medicine, Northwestern University, Doctor of Medicine (MD), Northwestern University, Residency, Northwestern University, Fellowship in Internal Medicine, Harvard University, Master of Public Health (MPH), Harvard School of Public Health
- **Known for:** Helped validate CLDN18.2 (claudin 18.2) as a therapeutic target in gastric cancer through the pivotal Phase 3 SPOTLIGHT trial of zolbetuximab, Rose to Senior Vice President, Head of Oncology Development at Astellas over a 15+ year tenure, Led a global team of medical directors developing next-generation targeted oncology therapies

## Career timeline

- **Early career** — Began medical career at the University of Illinois College of Medicine with professorships in Internal Medicine and Health Promotion Research
- **Pre-Astellas** — Associate Medical Director at Takeda
- **~2008-2023** — More than 15 years at Astellas in clinical development leadership, rising to Senior Vice President, Head of Oncology Development
- **2023** — Helped present positive Phase 3 SPOTLIGHT results validating claudin 18.2 as a gastric cancer target (zolbetuximab)
- **Current** — Executive Vice President, R&D and Chief Medical Officer at TerSera Therapeutics

## Achievements

- Helped validate CLDN18.2 (claudin 18.2) as a therapeutic target in gastric cancer through the pivotal Phase 3 SPOTLIGHT trial of zolbetuximab
- Rose to Senior Vice President, Head of Oncology Development at Astellas over a 15+ year tenure
- Led a global team of medical directors developing next-generation targeted oncology therapies
- Published academic research on health literacy, including work on identifying patients with poor health literacy quickly to improve cancer screening and treatment
- Member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the European Society for Medical Oncology
- Board member at Darul Qasim College, integrating Islamic scholarship with academic discourse

## Latest updates

- **2024-06** — Discussed updated SPOTLIGHT and EV-302 oncology trial results around ASCO 2024 in interviews
- **2023-01** — Featured in Astellas announcement of positive Phase 3 SPOTLIGHT zolbetuximab data at ASCO GI

## Links

- Website: https://tersera.com/bio/ahsan-arozullah
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ahsan-arozullah-96477687

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ahsan-arozullah
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-20