The BSI Tumour Immunology Affinity Group is a platform to connect active researchers interested in cancer tumour immunology. We aim to facilitate networking and encourage future collaborations in the field.
Find out more about the group in our September 2019 Immunology News article and get ready for our recent Checkpoint Blockade conference which took place on 23 March 2022 in Birmingham in our December 2021 Immunology News article.
Keep up to date with the group by following us on Twitter: @BSI_TumourImm
Upcoming events from the Group
Revealing and tackling the complexities of the tumour microenvironment
14–15 March 2024, Birmingham
Committee members
Chair
Professor Benjamin Willcox, Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham.
Ben completed his PhD at the University of Oxford in 1999 on the molecular basis of T cell recognition, and continued his work as a postdoc at the California Institute of Technology in the US with Professor Pamela Bjorkman, focussing on Leukocyte Immunoglobulin-like Receptors. Ben subsequently established his own research team at the University of Birmingham in 2002, focussing on immune receptor recognition. He was appointed Professor of Molecular Immunology in 2012.
Ben's research team combines molecular, structural and cellular expertise to investigate important immune receptor recognition events. Current foci include γδ T cell immunobiology and the regulation of anti-tumour immunity. He is Scientific Director of the Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Birmingham Centre, and a member of both the CRUK BioTherapeutic Expert Review Panel, and the CRUK-Astra Zeneca Target Selection Committee. His research is primarily funded by a Wellcome Trust Investigator Award, by CRUK, and by the Rosetrees Trust.
Email: b.willcox@bham.ac.uk
Secretary
Dr Seth B. Coffelt, Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute & Institute of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow.
Seth completed his PhD in 2006 at Tulane University in Molecular & Cellular Biology under the direction of Dr Aline Betancourt, where he continued as PostDoc for an additional year before moving to the University of Sheffield as a Research Associate in Professor Claire Lewis’s lab. In 2011, Seth was awarded a Marie Curie PostDoc Fellowship to work at the Netherlands Cancer Institute for 5 years studying the role of immune cells in breast cancer metastasis in Dr. Karin de Visser’s group. Subsequently, he returned to the UK as a group leader at the University of Glasgow and the CRUK Beatson institute.
Seth’s research group is interested on the role of immune cells driving metastasis formation and how tumours control immune cell behaviour in in the context of breast, pancreatic and colorectal cancers. Their main focus is to understand how γδ T cells and other immune cells participate in the metastatic process and to develop new immunotherapies that counteract metastatic lesions.
Email: Seth.Coffelt@glasgow.ac.uk
Treasurer
Professor Awen Gallimore, University of Cardiff
Awen completed her PhD in Oxford in 1995 with Professor Andrew McMichael. She subsequently took her first PostDoc position with Professor Rolf Zinkernagel at The University of Zurich. In 1998, Awen returned to the University of Oxford as a PostDoc with Dr Enzo Cerundolo and continued as a Wellcome Trust junior Research Fellow until 2003. Awen, as an MRC Senior Research Fellow, moved to Cardiff University where in 2009 she was appointed a Reader and in 2013 a Professor.
Awen’s research group is focussed on basic immunology and pre-clinical models of cancer. A key areas of interest is understanding the reciprocal relationship between the immune system and the cancer microenvironment. She is a member of the CRUK Immunology Expert Review Panel and Science Committee. Her work is funded by CRUK, Cancer Research Wales and the Wellcome Trust.
Email: GallimoreAM@cardiff.ac.uk
Richard completed his PhD exploring the immune responses to lung cancers driven by different genetic profiles at the University of Birmingham in 2021. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Southampton working with Professor Edd James to understand how modulating the immunopeptidome impacts T cell responses in cancer.
Originally from Italy, Silvia obtained a BSc in Medical Genetics at the University of Swansea and an MRes in Cancer Sciences at the University of Birmingham. She then continued to pursue a PhD in Immunology and Immunotherapy in Birmingham in the De Santo Lab, with research focussed on the development of cellular immunotherapies able to overcome the immunosuppressive microenvironment established by solid tumours. After her PhD and a maternity break, she moved to the University of Oxford as a postdoc in the Tumour Immunology Lab of Prof Van den Eynde within the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. Her interests cover both innate and adaptive immune systems in the context of cancer, with a secret love for sex dimorphisms in immunity.
Fernanda completed her BSc in Biochemistry at the Universidad de Concepción Chile, followed by a Diploma in Public Health at the same university. Subsequently, she worked as a Lab Manager for the Biotechnology and Biopharmaceuticals Lab at the University of Concepción before relocating to Birmingham, where she is currently a final year PhD student of the University of Birmingham's Immunology and Immunotherapy PhD program. Her research focuses on the differentiation of immune cells in response to vaccination, specifically studying a vaccine protocol against self-antigens expressed in the vasculature that supports tumours.
Berna completed her MRes and PhD at Aix-Marseille University in France where she characterized Natural Killer cells in Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Then she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge to deepen her understanding of the interaction between immune cells and other components of the tumour microenvironment. She is currently pursuing a postdoc at the University of Oxford where she studies the mechanisms of Natural Killer cell exhaustion in cancer.
Victoria completed her PhD which investigated the use of immunotherapy as an approach to target the tumour microenvironment of acute myeloid leukaemia (University of Birmingham, 2021). Currently, she is a postdoctoral researcher in the Dimeloe Group at the University of Birmingham exploring how NAD biosynthesis underpins the metabolism and effector function of human and murine T lymphocytes.
Amy completed a MSci in Immunology at the University of Glasgow with a MSci placement at MedImmune, Cambridge. She then worked as a research technician at the University of Glasgow and has recently completed a PhD under the guidance of Dr Ed Roberts at the Beatson. Her research focuses on understanding how immune cells migrate to the tumour microenvironment and tumour draining lymph node.