The key purpose of my role is to ensure the environmental safety of our life changing medicines. I joined AstraZeneca in 1995 as an experimental scientist to study the environmental fate, behaviour and degradation of pharmaceuticals as they enter the environment after patient use. As this area of study has grown in understanding and visibility, my role has developed and progressed and I am now the Senior Principal Environmental Scientist responsible for leading the Safety, Health and Environment foresight and research programmes.

I have always been passionate about science-based advocacy and my PhD in environmental microbiology and biochemistry from Cardiff University, which investigated the bacterial metabolism of nitrate esters that are used as active ingredients in cardiovascular drugs and explosives, set me up for my current role. Being at the science-policy interface helps to ensure regulations are based on sound science and that all stakeholders work together to ensure that patients can access medicines without compromising the health of our natural environment.
 

I am passionate about ensuring the environmental safety of our products throughout the whole of their product lifecycle and in all regions of the world. Our patients and society are increasing aware of the impacts that we are having on our planet and how that impacts our health. I want them to be reassured that AstraZeneca is committed to effectively managing the environmental risks of its products and is proactively minimising its environmental impact.

Jason Snape Global Safety, Health and Environment Director and Senior Principal Environmental Scientist


The scientific leadership I provide through my science-based advocacy has been recognised through my appointments as an Honorary Clinical Professor at the University of Warwick and a Professor of Practice in environmental engineering at the University of Newcastle. I also chair the European pharmaceutical industries working group on the environmental risk assessment of human medicines and represent AstraZeneca at the AMR Industry Alliance Manufacturing and Environment working group.

Another aspect of my role that I really enjoy is working with academic centres of excellence through open innovation and strategic collaborations with groups such as the Innovative Medicines Initiate, the European Commission, the Natural Environment Research Council and Biotechnology and the Biological Sciences Research Council to help manage concerns about pharmaceuticals in the environment. Emerging areas of study include the application of the latest artificial intelligence technologies to integrate predictive environmental impact assessments earlier in drug development and the environmental risks posed by increasing patient access to medicines in low- and middle-income countries that lack basic sanitation infrastructure.

I am passionate about ensuring the environmental safety of our products throughout the whole of their product lifecycle and in all regions of the world. Our patients and society are increasing aware of the impacts that we are having on our planet and how that impacts our health. I want them to be reassured that AstraZeneca is committed to effectively managing the environmental risks of its products and is proactively minimising its environmental impact.
 

Jason Snape

CURRENT ROLE

Global Safety, Health and Environment Director and Senior Principal Environmental Scientist

2019

Published a spatially explicit approach to assess the environmental risk of pharmaceuticals resulting from patient use in China

2018

Updated the AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals in the Environment (PIE) Position Statement

2018

AMR Industry Alliance publish manufacturing discharge targets for antibiotics that follow AstraZeneca’s recommendation to focus on protecting both human and environmental health

Global SHE Excellence Commendation for our industry leading PIE research

2017

Global 3Rs Award for reducing the need for fish toxicology testing through effective environmental persistence assessments

2016

Global SHE Excellence Award for our work on the proactive management of the environmental dimension of antimicrobial resistance

2015

Global Compliance Excellence Award for our work on Ecopharmacovigilance

2014

  Featured publications

Spatially Explicit Large-Scale Environmental Risk Assessment of Pharmaceuticals in Surface Water in China

Ying Zhu, Jason Snape, Kevin Jones, and Andrew Sweetman, Environmental Science & Technology 2019 53 (5), 2559-2569

DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.8b07054

Machine Learning for Environmental Toxicology: A Call for Integration and Innovation

Thomas H. Miller, Matteo D. Gallidabino, James I. MacRae, Christer Hogstrand, Nicolas R. Bury, Leon P. Barron, Jason R. Snape, and Stewart F. Owen, Environmental Science & Technology 2018 52 (22), 12953-12955

DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.8b05382

Critical knowledge gaps and research needs related to the environmental dimensions of antibiotic resistance

D.G. Joakim Larsson, Antoine Andremont, Johan Bengtsson-Palme, Kristian Koefoed Brandt, Ana Maria de Roda Husman, Patriq Fagerstedt, Jerker Fick, Carl-Fredrik Flach, William H. Gaze, Makoto Kuroda, Kristian Kvint, Ramanan Laxminarayan, Celia M. Manaia, Kaare Magne Nielsen, Laura Plant, Marie-Cécile Ploy, Carlos Segovia, Pascal Simonet, Kornelia Smalla, Jason Snape, Edward Topp, Arjon J. van Hengel, David W. Verner-Jeffreys, Marko P.J. Virta, Elizabeth M. Wellington, Ann-Sofie Wernersson, Environment International, 2018

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2018.04.041.

Application of prioritization approaches to optimize environmental monitoring and testing of pharmaceuticals

Emily E. Burns, Laura J. Carter, Jason Snape, Jane Thomas-Oates & Alistair B.A. Boxall (2018), Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B, 21:3, 115-141, DOI: 10.1080/10937404.2018.1465873

Integrating human and environmental health in antibiotic risk assessment: A critical analysis of protection goals, species sensitivity and antimicrobial resistance

Gareth Le Page, Lina Gunnarsson, Jason Snape, Charles R. Tyler, Environment International, Volume 109, 2017, Pages 155-169, ISSN 0160-4120,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2017.09.013.

ECOdrug: a database connecting drugs and conservation of their targets across species

Bas Verbruggen, Lina Gunnarsson, Erik Kristiansson, Tobias Österlund, Stewart F Owen, Jason R Snape, Charles R Tyler, Nucleic Acids Research, Volume 46, Issue D1, 4 January 2018, Pages D930–D936, 

https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkx1024

Pharmaceuticals in soils of lower income countries: Physico-chemical fate and risks from wastewater irrigation

Katherine Lees, Mark Fitzsimons, Jason Snape, Alan Tappin, Sean Comber, Environment International, Volume 94, 2016, Pages 712-723, ISSN 0160-4120,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2016.06.018.

Ecotoxicological assessment of antibiotics: A call for improved consideration of microorganisms

Kristian K. Brandt, Alejandro Amézquita, Thomas Backhaus, Alistair Boxall, Anja Coors, Thomas Heberer, John R. Lawrence, James Lazorchak, Jens Schönfeld, Jason R. Snape, Yong-Guan Zhu, Edward Topp, Environment International, Volume 85, 2015, Pages 189-205, ISSN 0160-4120,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2015.09.013.

Management Options for Reducing the Release of Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance Genes to the Environment

Amy Pruden, D.G. Joakim Larsson, Alejandro Amézquita, Peter Collignon, Kristian K. Brandt, David W. Graham, James M. Lazorchak, Satoru Suzuki, Peter Silley, Jason R. Snape, Edward Topp, Tong Zhang, and Yong-Guan Zhu, Environmental Health Perspectives, Published:1 August 2013 

https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1206446

 

Human Health Risk Assessment (HHRA) for Environmental Development and Transfer of Antibiotic Resistance

Nicholas J. Ashbolt, Alejandro Amézquita, Thomas Backhaus, Peter Borriello, Kristian K. Brandt, Peter Collignon, Anja Coors, Rita Finley, William H. Gaze, Thomas Heberer, John R. Lawrence, D.G. Joakim Larsson, Scott A. McEwen, James J. Ryan, Jens Schönfeld, Peter Silley, Jason R. Snape, Christel Van den Eede, and Edward Topp, Environmental Health Perspectives, Published:1 September 2013

https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1206316

Implementing Ecopharmacovigilance in Practice: Challenges and Potential Opportunities

Holm, G., Snape, J.R., Murray-Smith, R. et al. Drug Saf (2013) 36: 533. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40264-013-0049-3

Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in the Environment: What Are the Big Questions?

Alistair B.A. Boxall, Murray A. Rudd, Bryan W. Brooks, Daniel J. Caldwell, Kyungho Choi, Silke Hickmann, Elizabeth Innes, Kim Ostapyk, Jane P. Staveley, Tim Verslycke, Gerald T. Ankley, Karen F. Beazley, Scott E. Belanger, Jason P. Berninger, Pedro Carriquiriborde, Anja Coors, Paul C. DeLeo, Scott D. Dyer, Jon F. Ericson, François Gagné, John P. Giesy, Todd Gouin, Lars Hallstrom, Maja V. Karlsson, D. G. Joakim Larsson, James M. Lazorchak, Frank Mastrocco, Alison McLaughlin, Mark E. McMaster, Roger D. Meyerhoff, Roberta Moore, Joanne L. Parrott, Jason R. Snape, Richard Murray-Smith, Mark R. Servos, Paul K. Sibley, Jürg Oliver Straub, Nora D. Szabo, Edward Topp, Gerald R. Tetreault, Vance L. Trudeau, and Glen Van Der Kraak, Environmental Health Perspectives, Published: 1 September 2012

https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1104477

Environmental risk assessment of human pharmaceuticals in the European Union: A case study with the β‐blocker atenolol

Küster, A. , Alder, A. C., Escher, B. I., Duis, K. , Fenner, K. , Garric, J. , Hutchinson, T. H., Lapen, D. R., Péry, A. , Römbke, J. , Snape, J. , Ternes, T. , Topp, E. , Wehrhan, A. and Knacker, T. (2010), Environmental risk assessment of human pharmaceuticals in the European Union: A case study with the β‐blocker atenolol. Integr Environ Assess Manag, 6: 514-523.

https://doi.org/10.1897/IEAM_2009-050.1

Our people

Our people share a common purpose: to push the boundaries of science to deliver life-changing medicines.

What science can do

Stories from our people and our partners reveal the passion, energy and knowledge that enable us to put science at the heart of everything we do.

Our company

We are a global, science-led biopharmaceutical business and our innovative medicines are used by millions of patients worldwide.