Yasunori Watanabe

Yasunori Watanabe is a Senior Scientist in Analytical Sciences within Biopharmaceutical Development at AstraZeneca. He currently works on biologics of several modalities including bispecifics, Fc-peptide fusions, live-attenuated influenza vaccines and mAbs. His work focuses on the structural characterisation of these biological molecules using primarily mass-spectrometry based techniques. Outside of industry, he maintains his academic links as an Adjunct Fellow at the University of Southampton.

Prior to joining AZ, he completed his DPhil in Biochemistry at the University of Oxford. His thesis was titled “Mapping the glycan shields of enveloped viruses” which involved the investigation of glycans from several viruses including HIV-1, influenza, and coronaviruses. During this time, he was part of the team that characterised the site-specific glycan structures on the recombinant SARS-CoV-2 spike, and those derived from the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

Outside of work and science, he enjoys playing golf and fishing.