Looking for a MSCA DN consortia in the field of Oncoimmunology, Cancer in general

The OncoImmunology group (previously the Immunomodulation group) was founded by Dr David Escors in 2008, as an Arthritis Research UK fellow. The group was integrated within the Division of Infection and Immunity of University College London, London, UK. The immunomodulation group closely worked with other research teams led by Profs. Adrian Thrasher, Mary Collins, Hans Stauss and Arne Akbar, experts in human gene therapy, T-cell transfer therapies and development of gene vectors for human therapy based on retrovirus and lentivirus genomes.

In 2013, the OncoImmunology group moved to Navarrabiomed research Centre, in Pamplona, Navarra, Spain. This is the biomedical research centre administered by the Government of Navarre through the Miguel Servet Foundation. Since 2013, Dr Escors (Miguel Servet Fellow) is the Principal Investigator of the OncoImmunology group, which maintains an elevated rate of high-quality research publications. The team still collaborates with top international researchers inimmunology and cancer immunotherapy. For example, with the groups led by Arne Akbar, Hans Stauss and Clare Bennet, in UCL, and Karine Breckpot and Kris Thielemanns in the Free University of Brussels. 

The research subjects in the OncoImmunology group are centered upon the immunological mechanisms of human disease, particularly in cancer, as well as the mechanisms of immunological ageing. 

Main key discoveries: 

1. Discovery of the molecular mechanisms regulating human T-cell senescence, in collaboration with Prof Arne Akbar´s group (Lanna et al. 2014. Nat Immunol; Lanna et al. 2017). 

2. Discovery of one of the main mechanisms of action of the interference with PD-L1/PD-1 immune checkpoint interactions in cancer immunotherapy (Karwacz et al. 2011. EMBO Mol Med; Liechtenstein et al. 2014. OncoImmunology; Zuazo et al. 2019. EMBO Mol Med; Zuazo et al. 2020. EMBO Mol Med; Bocanegra et al. EMBO Rep. 2023. In press)

3. Identification of the signaling domains of the immune checkpoint PD-L1 in cancer cells (Gato-Canas et al. 2017. Cell Reports).

4. Development of a bispecific PD-1/LAG-3 inhibitor in collaboration with Crescendo Biologics. This inhibitor is being tested in phase I clinical trials for the treatment of various solid cancers (Edwards CJ. et al. Br J Cancer. 2021).

5. Innovation Prize 2021 "Cadena SER" (https://cadenaser.com/emisora/2021/01/28/radio_pamplona/1611817657_817060.html).

For more info: https://navarrabiomed.es/en/research/research-units/oncoimmunology