Professor Stephen Beers BSc (Hons) Biochemistry, PhD Biochemistry
Professor of Immunology and Immunotherapy
- Related links
- Personal homepage
Professor Stephen Beers is Professor of Immunology and Immunotherapy at the Centre for Cancer Immunology in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton.
Antibody immunotherapy is transforming how cancer patients are treated. Despite the success of antibody drugs not all patients respond and few are cured. Our aim is to understand the role of host factors and the immune microenvironment in resistance to antibody therapy and generate new drugs and strategies to better kill malignant cells and cure patients.
Stephen Beers graduated from the University of Southampton in 1999 with a first class degree in Biochemistry. Subsequently he was awarded a personal PhD studentship from the BBSRC and graduated in 2003. He then moved to the Cancer Sciences Division (CSD) in the Faculty of Medicine and undertook his first postdoctoral fellowship in Immunochemistry and Immunotherapy. Following two successful postdoctoral positions he was awarded a career track fellowship and established his own group studying antibody effector function.
His research group is interested in how antibodies work to result in tumour regression. The research is currently focused on how the tumour microenvironment, particularly macrophages, affect effector function and how this could be manipulated to enhance antibody efficacy in patients. They have built a portfolio of complimentary models incorporating in vitro 3D modelling, appropriate in vivo model systems and primary clinical material.
The research group currently comprises; Dr Charles Birts, Against Breast Cancer Lecturer in Antibody Therapeutics (joint appointment with Professor Max Crispin, Biological Sciences), three postdoctoral fellows, three research technicians, 8 PhD students, and two clinical fellows, with many co-managed with other members of the Antibody and Vaccine Group.
Qualifications
BSc (Hons), Biochemistry 1st Class, University of Southampton, 1999
PhD, Biochemistry, University of Southampton, 2003
Appointments held
Chair of Immunology and Immunotherapy (2018 - present)
Academic Lead for Biomedical Research Facility (2015 – present)
PhD Supervision
Thomas Tipton (2015), Lang Dou (2016), Michael Marshall (2018), Emily Webb (2018), Julia Moreno-Vicente (2021)