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Director of new cancer immunology centre announced

Published: 23 November 2015
Tim Elliott
Prof Tim Elliott is Director of the Centre for Cancer Immunology

Professor Tim Elliott has been appointed as the Director of Southampton’s new Centre for Cancer Immunology.

 

The new centre, being built by the University of Southampton and expected to be open in 2017, will be the first dedicated cancer immunology centre in the UK.

Professor Elliott, who is currently the Chair of Experimental Oncology at the University of Southampton, will play a lead role in the next phase of the centre’s development and the University’s campaign to fund it.

He comments: “The University has made a number of advances in tumour immunology and immunotherapy over the past 40 years, with a reputation for its ‘bench to bedside’ results. I am thrilled to be able to continue that research and take it forward into this innovative centre, which will go a long way in helping many more people with cancer become free of the disease.”

Immunotherapy is a revolutionary new treatment, supercharging the body’s natural defences to find and destroy cancer.

The new treatments being developed by Southampton scientists, in the form of vaccines and antibodies, direct special immune cells against cancers. These ‘killer’ cells can control and shrink cancer and give long-lasting protection. The University has developed treatments to target some of the most aggressive forms of the disease including cancers of the lung and skin, and childhood neuroblastoma. Results from clinical trials are very promising with more than 20 per cent of participants living cancer free.

The University of Southampton is raising £25 million to fund the new centre that will be based at the Southampton General Hospital. The centre will double the number of people working on cancer immunology and ultimately double the number of patients taking part in clinical trials.

Professor Iain Cameron, Dean of Medicine at the University of Southampton, says: “Professor Elliott is an internationally renowned scientist in the field of cancer immunology and we are delighted that he will be leading this ground-breaking project for the University.

“Harnessing the power of the immune system is one of the most promising areas of new cancer treatment, and our new centre will really make a difference to both our scientific understanding and its practical application in the clinic.”

For more information about the new Centre for Cancer Immunology or the University of Southampton fundraising campaign visit www.southampton.ac.uk/youreit

 

 

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