Research

The research interest of my group focuses on immunological approaches to the treatment of haematological cancers. In particular, we are interested in understanding:

• The molecular mechanisms whereby cancer cells induce changes in the host immune system
• The use of allogeneic stem cell bone marrow transplant to induce a graft versus leukaemia effect
• Identification of the antigenic targets expressed by cancer cells
• Use of agents that will make tumour cells more susceptible to immune cell mediated killing, without impacting on the host immune system

Other Activities

• European Hematology Association (EHA), President 2019-2021
• President-elect 2017-2019
• EHA Governing Board, 2015-
• International workshop for NHL – Chair 2014-
• MRC Molecular and Cellular Medicine Board (MCMB), 2007-2012

Major Funding

• 2017-2022- The London Clinic, Provision of clinical research Fellows in Haematology
• 2016-2019- Janssen Biotech Inc, Targeting PD-LI/PD-1 mediated inbhibitory signaling with BTK inhibitors
• 2016-2019- Wellcome Trust, Understanding the rise of HIV-assoicated Hodgkin Lymphoma despite HAART; the role of immune dysregulation
• 2015-2018- Barts Charity, Understanding the microenvironment in HIV associated Hodgkin Lymphoma, £283,221
• 2014-2019- NCI/NIH Programme Grant – CLL Research Consortium, Understanding the impact of CLL on T cell immune responses, $1,200,000

Recent Publications

Evaluating an interactive acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) workshop delivered to trained therapists working with cancer patients in the United Kingdom: a mixed methods approach Moschopoulou E, Brewin D, Ridge D et al. BMC Cancer (2022) 22(7)

The International Consensus Classification of Mature Lymphoid Neoplasms: a report from the Clinical Advisory Committee Campo E, Jaffe ES, Cook JR et al. Blood (2022) 140(7) 1229-1253

NK cells CD56bright and CD56dim subset cytokine loss and exhaustion is associated with impaired survival in myeloma. Seymour F, Cavenagh JD, Mathews J et al. Blood Adv (2022) 6(2) 5152-5159
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35834731

First-line treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia with ibrutinib plus obinutuzumab versus chlorambucil plus obinutuzumab: final analysis of the randomized, phase III iLLUMINATE trial Moreno C, Greil R, Demirkan F et al. Haematologica (2022) 107(7) 2108-2120

How a Medical Association Can Make a Difference in a Crisis Situation. van Havre N, Orsini E, Almeida A et al. Hemasphere (2022) 6(2) e765
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35966765

Comparative effectiveness of ZUMA-5 (axi-cel) vs SCHOLAR-5 external control in relapsed/refractory follicular lymphoma Ghione P, Palomba ML, Patel AR et al. Blood (2022) 140(7) 851-860

Genomic Profiling for Clinical Decision Making in Lymphoid Neoplasms. de Leval L, Alizadeh AA, Bergsagel PL et al. Blood (2022) (2)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36001803

Longitudinal expression profiling identifies a poor risk subset of patients with ABC-type Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma. Bewicke-Copley F, Korfi K, Araf S et al. Blood Adv (2022) (2)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35947123

PDL1 shapes the classical Hodgkin lymphoma microenvironment without inducing T cell exhaustion. Taylor JG, Truelove E, Clear A et al. Haematologica (2022) (2)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35833296

Genomic and microenvironmental landscape of stage I follicular lymphoma, compared to stage III/IV. Los-de Vries GT, Stevens WBC, van Dijk EV et al. Blood Adv (2022) (2)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35816682

Team

Group Leaders in the Centre
Dr Andrejs Braun, Dr Jeff Davies, Dr Gabriella Ficz, Professor Kamil R. Kranc, Dr Sergey Krysov, Dr Rifca Le Dieu, Dr Kevin Rouault-Pierre, Dr John Riches, Dr Bela Wrench

Clinical Research Fellows
Dr Jennifer Edelmann, Dr Robin Sanderson, Dr Joseph Taylor, Dr Edward Truelove

Biography

I hold the Gordon Hamilton Fairley Chair of Medical Oncology at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary, University of London. My doctoral studies were performed at University College London as the recipient of a Wellcome Trust Fellowship Award. I continued post-doctoral training with Professor Lee Nadler at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School.

In 1992, I was appointed to the Faculty at Harvard Medical School, where I remained as Associate Professor of Medicine and an Attending Physician at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital, until returning to London in 2005. I am a founding member of the CLL Research Consortium, Associate Editor of Blood and was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Science.