Director of the Centre for Cancer Immunology at the University of Southampton
About Southampton Cancer Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The University and Southampton:
Cancer Sciences Unit
The Cancer Sciences Unit which consists of over 150 scientists, research staff and students, is one of
the leading Centres in the UK with a particular focus on cancer immunology. Our research ranges
from basic cellular and molecular biology right through to the epidemiology of service
provision. Major strengths include basic and translational immunology and tumour survival in
lymphoma and solid tumours. We also have a growing reputation in tumour stroma and
microenvironment research, particularly in the area of immunological regulation. One of the major
distinguishing features of our centre is the strong translational element, where at this time we are
leading the development of five new immunotherapy drugs (mAb) all originating in the
Southampton labs.
The University has a long-established relationship with Cancer Research UK (CR UK) and our facilities
include the CR UK Centre of Excellence and the CR UK Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre. We
also host a centre of excellence in Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research where it specialises in
understanding and treating chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.
All cancer research has clinical application as its ultimate goal. Our Cancer Sciences research is
conducted on the Biomedical Campus at Southampton General Hospital and in the University of
Southampton Clinical Trials Unit which is also supported by funding from Cancer Research UK to
deliver large multicentre cancer treatment trials.
The Centre for Cancer Immunology
Cancer Immunology focusses on harnessing the body’s immune system to fight and provide lasting
defence against cancer. By improving, targeting, or restoring immune system function, we are able
to stop or slow the growth of cancer cells, stop cancer from spreading to other parts of the body,
and help the immune system increase its effectiveness at eliminating cancer cells.
The new Centre for Cancer Immunology will be a 40,000 ft2, four-storey building housing facilities to
support the invention and deployment of new cancer immunotherapies: from their discovery in the
lab, via preclinical modelling, to first-in-human clinical trials and on to wider multicentre trials run by
a dedicated and co-located Clinical Trials Unit. The purpose built centre will consolidate existing
cancer immunology research, preclinical and clinical teams that currently reside at disparate
locations. It will also create considerable space and facilities for future staff expansion. This will
create an interactive working environment in which scientists, clinicians, clinical trialists and
research nurses work side by side and where the generation of new knowledge and its application is
a seamless process, both intellectually and practically. The centre, which will be located in the
grounds of the University General Hospital (below), will enable a step change in the number and
scope of clinical trials in cancer immunology in the UK.
Research Focus
The strongest aspect of our excellent research environment is our research strategy. The
programme of research that will link three areas into a translational pipeline:
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The basic mechanisms of cancer immunity,
Engineering immune-based therapies, and
Clinical trials to study these new therapies.
With the specific aims of:
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Developing a new generation of antibody therapeutics using protein engineering to improve
their effectiveness.
Combining antibodies with vaccines for immunotherapy that involve both taking the brakes
off anticancer immune responses and steering them in the right direction.
Finding out why some patients respond well to immunotherapy and others not, and use this
information to tailor the right immunotherapy to the right patient.
Using this information to discover new targets for immunotherapy and new ways of eliciting
responses in non-responder patients.
Building on our successful track record
Southampton scientists were among the first to use antibody treatments for leukaemia and to test a
DNA vaccine for adult leukaemia. Our research into how immunotherapeutic antibodies work in
leukaemia is launching a new generation of engineered super-antibodies and opening up new
avenues for therapy that were previously unthinkable. And thanks to our links with the University’s
Institute for life Sciences (IFLS; including a new £40 million building of life sciences), we have
discovered how the shape and mobility of immunological molecules can indicate the likelihood of
them delivering an immune response. This research was made possible thanks to our privileged
access to the Southampton IRIDIS4 supercomputer, the largest of its kind in Europe. All of these
advances are translating into direct patient benefit.
Working collaboratively to increase impact
The Centre for Cancer Immunology will not only provide the infrastructure to bring together internal
teams, but provide a hub for internal and external collaboration. Medicine has developed strong
links with complementary disciplines via the IFLS including joint appointments with Mathematics (Dr
Ben MacArthur: mathematical modelling), Chemistry (Dr Ali Tavassoli: protein networks) and
Electronics and Computer Science (Dr Jon West: hybrid biodevices); all of whom are actively
collaborating with cancer immunologists on transformative interdisciplinary projects.
We have built added value into each new appointment and research project in diverse disciplines so
that over the past decade, we have developed synergies across our entire research portfolio for the
benefit of cancer immunology. For example:
 The same research that drives our understanding of T lymphocyte immunity in cancer is
driving research into how T cells protect us from influenza infection;
 Our research into targeting tumour macrophages to enhance immunotherapy benefits from
research programmes into macrophage function in both respiratory disease and in
neurodegenerative disease;
 Antibody engineering principles we have developed to improve cancer immunotherapy also
apply to new immunotherapies being applied to inflammatory eye disease;
 And our research into antigen processing first discovered the importance of a new gene in
autoimmunity before moving on to discover its importance in cancer.
The location of the centre at the University Hospital Southampton’s General Hospital site maximises
links to the Southampton Centre for Biomedical Sciences: the focus for our translational research,
incorporating our Clinical Research Facility (WTCRF), an Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre, NIHR
Biomedical Research Unit in Respiratory Medicine and NIHR Biomedical Research Centre in Nutrition
and Lifestyle; and an unique molecular biosciences core facility where new immunomonitoring,
genetic stratification, microbiological and micronutrient tests are developed for clinical trials to
industry-regulated standards. Crucially, by linking this facility to the Wolfson Centre for Hybrid
Devices, the new Cancer Immunology Centre will act as a catalyst for the development and
validation of new devices with applications in cancer.
The Centre for Cancer Immunology will share a strategic link with the Francis Crick Institute. Through
jointly-funded positions, we will link Southampton’s leading translational cancer immunotherapy
with the outstanding basic immunology planned for the Francis Crick Institute, supporting the new
Institute to fulfil its national role in fostering the best translational science. The Centre for Cancer
Immunology will provide new opportunities for translating Crick discoveries into the clinic, and the
basic immunology science programmes at Crick will synergise with our own to develop the deep
mechanistic understanding of cancer immunology that is needed to progress new therapeutic
approaches.
The creation of the first dedicated cancer immunology centre, housed in bespoke accommodation,
will put Southampton in a strong position to both raise its existing international collaborations to a
new level and to initiate new ones at the highest level. The centre also offers new opportunities for
expanding important existing collaborations between industry and other sectors of the Faculty of
Medicine – including GSK biologicals whose £5 m collaborative research and development
agreement with the respiratory medicine group is poised to reach into cancer immunology.
Newer collaborations, forged on the strength of our research excellence combined with our large
critical mass in immunotherapy and basic immunology, will benefit most from creation of the Centre.
These include collaborations with the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, recognized as
one of the top medical research organizations in the world, based on its highly cited immunology
research and with whom we have made a joint senior appointment (Professor Vijay Pandurangan);
and BioInvent International - a NASDAQ-listed pharmaceutical company focused on discovery and
development of innovative antibody-based drugs against cancer. The CSO of BioInvent has now been
awarded a visiting Professorship at the University of Southampton to help recognise our close
partnership. We are developing close links with the very top research institutes around the world,
including The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne and A*star in Singapore with whom the
University has a strategic agreement and joint PhD programme.
Project Timetable
Construction of the Centre for Cancer Immunology is due to begin in spring 2015 with scheduled
completion in March 2017. The main construction which was subject to tender (please see financial
appendix) will be undertaken by Kier Group Plc.
The Faculty of Medicine
Southampton’s Faculty of Medicine is world-leading in cancer, respiratory disease, musculoskeletal
disease, nutrition, immunology and genetics and adopts a Lifecourse approach to research in these
and other areas. It has externally recognised and funded national centres of excellence in Cancer
(CRUK, LLR and NIHR), Respiratory Medicine (NIHR BRU), Musculoskeletal disease (ARUK) and
Nutrition and lifestyle (NIHR BRC) as well as the UK’s MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit and is one of
11 newly appointed UK Centres for Genomic Medicine (NHS England).
In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework the Faculty of Medicine was ranked 8th in the UK for
intensity-weighted research. This measure took into account the volume and quality of research as
well as the proportion of staff that are research active at UK institutions. Southampton was one of
only three UK universities that reported an expansion in the number of research active staff since
the last assessment in 2008. These two facts provide clear evidence for the strong upward trajectory
of biomedical research at Southampton.
Our longstanding partnership with the University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust is very strong.
We have a proven track record of producing high quality biomedical science in our laboratories
which is translated through patient-based research and then progressed into later phase studies
across the NIHR Clinical Research Networks. Together, over the past 15 years we have developed
infrastructure to support this enterprise, including a 20 bed clinical research facility with dedicated
research nursing staff; a digital research management platform; sample handling and tissue banking
and the first GCLP laboratory in the UK devoted to developing immunological and genomic readouts
for clinical trials. In 2011/12 UHS was ranked 3rd in the UK for recruiting patients into clinical trials
(16,204 patients to 297 studies of which 37.4% were led by FoM investigators), and crucially in 2008
we established a CRUK funded clinical trials unit (currently with a portfolio of 29 trials valued at £7M)
which we plan to expand as part of the Cancer Immunology Centre.
We have unrivalled experience in realising the potential of our research by translating innovative
ideas and technologies into commercial success. We have created seven spin-outs in the last decade,
including: Karus Therapeutics – novel histone kinase inhibitors with applications in oncology and
inflammation; Synairgen – novel antiviral therapies for patients with respiratory disease; iQur –
focus on liver disease and related diagnostics; and Epigen – an international industry/academic
consortium using epigenetic biomarkers to determine health outcomes relating to early life nutrition.
In addition our research engagement pushes the boundaries of current practice to foster a culture of
innovation and enterprise with pharma and industry. For example our partnership with Bioinvent to
bring therapeutic monoclonal antibodies to the cancer clinic, led by Professor Martin Glennie and
Peter Johnson, who is also Cancer Research UK’s Chief Clinician.
The University of Southampton
The University of Southampton ranks in the top one percent of universities world-wide, with 23,000
students from 130 different countries across our 6 campuses. It is recognised to combines academic
excellence with an innovative and entrepreneurial approach to research, supporting a culture that
engages and challenges students and staff in their pursuit of learning. We lead the way in flexible
learning for our students with innovative curriculum modules offering variation and choice in their
studies beyond their selected discipline, preparing them for the complex challenges of the future.
Over 94% of Southampton graduates enter into employment or further study within six months of
graduating.
We are research-led and the 2014 Research Excellence Framework assessment, confirmed our
position, ranking 7th among UK universities. Our research grant income exceeded £100m for the first
time in 2013 and in 2014 Southampton was in the top ten institutions receiving research council
funding.
Southampton is home to several world-leading research centres, including developmental origins of
health and disease, marine engineering, microelectronics and computer science, ocean and Earth
science, sound and vibration and optoelectronics. Multidisciplinary research is at the heart of
University research strategy; in 2012 we launched the Institute for Life Sciences: an institution wide
catalyst for interdisciplinary research and training that brings together the biomedicine and the life
sciences with the physical sciences, electronics, engineering, mathematics and computer science.
The IfLS incorporates a fully integrated Wolfson Centre for Hybrid Biodevices, devoted to the
nanoengineering of devices that interface with biological systems including point-of-care devices.
The University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (UHS)
The UHS was formed on 1 October 2011 when Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust was
licensed as a Foundation Trust by the regulator Monitor. Located on the south coast of England, the
Trust provides hospital services for people with acute health problems. It is the local hospital for
650,000 people who live in Southampton, the New Forest, Eastleigh and the Test Valley and is relied
upon by residents of the Isle of Wight for some services.
As the major university hospital on the south coast, UHS provides the full range of tertiary medical
and surgical specialties, with the exception of transplantation, renal services and burns, to more
than three million people in central southern England and the Channel Islands. UHS is a centre of
excellence for training the doctors and nurses of the future and developing treatments for
tomorrow’s patients. Its role in research and education, developed in active partnership with the
University of Southampton distinguish it as a hospital that works at the leading edge of healthcare
developments in the NHS and internationally.
UHS is a nationally leading hospital for research into cancer, respiratory disease, nutrition,
cardiovascular disease, bone and joint conditions and complex immune system problems. More than
9,000 people work at the Trust making one of the area’s largest employers. With an annual budget
of almost £600 million it plays a significant role in the economic prosperity of the region.
The University Campuses
The University has five lively and diverse campuses: four in Southampton and one in nearby
Winchester. The main Highfield Campus is home to three of the UK’s leading arts venues, the John
Hansard Gallery, the Nuffield Theatre and the Turner Sims Concert Hall. It also houses our state-ofthe-art £8.5 million sports complex, our main Hartley Library, the Students’ Union and Staff Social
Centre. Close to Highfield, the Avenue Campus houses most of the Humanities disciplines and the
Centre for Language Study. It also has a purpose built £3 million Archaeology building with state-ofthe-art facilities for teaching and research. Two miles west of Highfield, Southampton General
Hospital is the base for the University’s Faculty of Medicine. The campus offers modern laboratories,
computer suites, refurbished lecture theatres and a specialist Health Services Library. Highfield,
Avenue and Southampton General Hospital campuses are all next to Southampton Common, a
protected Site of Special Scientific Interest with extensive areas of public open space and managed
woodland. Situated on the city’s waterfront, the National Oceanography Centre Southampton
(NOCS) is one of the world’s leading research centres for the study of ocean and earth sciences.
Close to Winchester city centre, 12 miles north of Southampton, the University’s internationally
renowned Winchester School of Art provides studios and workshops, an extensive specialist library
and a well-stocked art supplies shop. The Winchester Gallery is based on campus.
SOUTHAMPTON AND IT’S SURROUNDINGS
Southampton is a thriving modern city; steeped in history and culture, while less than an hour away
the New Forest National Park offers vast open heathland and beautiful forest.
The city offers a vibrant mix of recreation, culture and entertainment – from restaurants, cafes, bars
and nightclubs to cinemas, sports facilities and internationally acclaimed arts venues. Close to the
city centre, the University forms an integral part of this dynamic, multi-cultural city.
Southampton has a fascinating history. It was from Southampton in 1415 that Henry V set sail for
Agincourt. The Pilgrim Fathers first set sail from here in 1620 on their historic journey to the New
World, and the ill-fated Titanic sailed from Southampton in 1912. Southampton has a rich aviation
heritage, with the Spitfire, the fighter aircraft that won the Battle of Britain, developed in the region
in the 1930s. Southampton is 12 miles south of Winchester, once the capital of Britain, with a rich
cultural heritage, complemented by a lively atmosphere and a wide variety of pubs and restaurants,
museums, theatres and galleries.
Southampton has one of the biggest commercial ports in Europe, and the city is known across the
world as the home of the giant cruise liners, Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria.
With a coastal location, there is a vast range of opportunities for sport and leisure, with a major
focus on watersports, sailing and ocean racing. A gateway to the world, just over an hour from
central London, Southampton has excellent transport links with the rest of the UK and
internationally, by road, rail, sea and air. The University’s award- winning uni-link bus service
connects all Southampton campuses and halls of residence, the city centre, the airport and railway
stations.
Appointment process and how to apply:
The Director of the Centre for Cancer Immunology will be appointed by a selection committee. This
committee will be looking for a person, clinical or non-clinical, with an international reputation in the
field of immunology, ideally with a strong interest in cancer immunology. However, for candidates
with a particularly strong academic record in immunological research, we will be willing to overlook
the need for an existing cancer interest. The successful candidate will have a strong record of
leadership and will need to show evidence of being able to drive a research strategy both locally and
nationally. We will expect that the new Director, while overseeing the success of the new Centre,
will also undertake a personal research programme funding by competitive grant awards.
Applications should consist of a full curriculum vitae along with a covering letter of application,
addressing the role and person specification. Applicants are asked to provide suitable daytime and
evening contact details. All information will be treated as strictly confidential.
Longlisted candidates will be invited to visit the Southampton informally for discussion and to meet
key stakeholders during August and September, following which a shortlist will be agreed.
Shortlisted candidates will be invited for interview later in the year when the formal selection
process will take place. The final appointment will be made subject to satisfactory references.
Salary and starting package commensurate with the seniority of the role.
Completed applications should be submitted by Friday, 31st July 2015.