Jonathon Sedgwick, Ph.D.

Dr. Jonathon Sedgwick joined AbbVie in 2021 as Senior Vice President and Global Head of Discovery Research. In this role, he leads a global team of scientists who work to discover potential new treatments for diseases of high unmet medical need.

He is an immunologist whose pioneering contribution to the field was the identification of the dominant biological role of IL-23 as a major driver of autoimmune inflammation, and description of IL-23-driven Th17 CD4+ T cells. This work stimulated the discovery and development of multiple IL-23 and IL-17 focused therapeutics, including risankizumab.

Dr. Sedgwick’s career includes 10 years in academic research and over 20 years in the biotechnology and biopharma sectors. He was most recently the Senior Vice President and Global Head, Cancer Immunology and Immune Modulation Research at Boehringer Ingelheim where he was responsible for the development of the immuno-oncology discovery and early clinical portfolio, and for immune-modulation research globally covering all therapy areas.

He has a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from the University of Western Australia and completed his post-doctoral education at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom with Don Mason, Neil Barclay and Alan Williams. He has published over 120 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters.