Director of new Centre for Cancer Immunology announced

Director of new Centre for Cancer Immunology announced

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 planned 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 development of the Centre and the University’s campaign to fund it.

Professor Iain Cameron, Dean of Medicine, 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.”

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 in Southampton and around the world are very promising with more than 20 per cent of participants living cancer free after receiving immunotherapy.