Doctor Charlie Birts

Dr Charles Birts is a Lecturer in Antibody Therapeutics and principal investigator in breast cancer research at the University of Southampton. He obtained his First-Class Honours degree in Biochemistry and Pharmacology in 2003 at the University of Southampton. He completed his PhD in the lab of David Wilton on the role of phospholipases in inflammation. In 2007 he Joined the lab of Dr Jeremy Blaydes at Southampton General Hospital in the Faculty of Medicine to undertake a postdoctoral position investigating the molecular mechanisms that control changes in cellular metabolism in breast cancer cells, specifically on a family of proteins called CtBPs. He was awarded the Faculty of Medicine Postdoctoral Career Track Award in 2014, awarded through a competitive process, to develop his independent research investigating the metabolic crosstalk between the microenvironment and cancer cells. This was followed by an ESPEN Research Fellowship in 2016 to investigate the interplay between cancer metabolism and the immune system. He joined the School of Biological Sciences as an Against Breast Cancer funded lecturer in 2018. His research is focused on investigating the effect of metabolic and immunologic targeting on breast cancer development. This work involves developing novel antibody-based therapies for targeting secondary breast cancers.