Dr Eleanor Cheadle PhD, BSc (Hons), FHEA

Overview

I am a NIHR BRC funded postdoctoral Research Fellow within the Targeted Therapy Group led by Prof Tim Illidge.

I manage a small team of technicians and a Clinical Fellow within the group to investigate the immunomodulatory effects of radiotherapy (RT) in samples from cancer patients undergoing RT/ RT and immunotherapy combinations. We are particularly interested in identifying dynamic biomarkers of immune responses to RT in the tumour microenvironment and systemically.

Previously I have been working within the group looking at combining anti-CD20 mAbs with immuno-modulatory agents to enhance antibody effector mechanisms and the generation of anti-tumour immune responses.

Supervise PhD and undergraduate project students.

Member of the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute Biosafety Committee.

Co-unit leader for the MRes Oncology Research Project component.

Biography

I undertook my PhD at the University of Leeds from 1999-2002 studing recombinant mycobacterial cancer vaccines and their interaction with dendritic cells and lymphocytes under the supervision of Dr Andrew Jackson and Professor Peter Selby. I then moved to the University of Manchester in 2002 where I began work as a postdoctoral research associate in the group of Professor Robert Hawkins and Dr David Gilham. My work focused on the generation and testing of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells targeting CD19 for use in the treatment of B-cell malignancies. This work led to an ongoing Kay Kendall Leukaemia funded Phase I clinical trial testing CD19 CAR T-cells in B-cell lymphoma. In 2009 I joined the Targeted Therapy group led by Professor Tim Illidge and my research has focused on investigating the mechanisms of action of type I and type II anti-CD20 antibodies and improving their efficacy in B-cell malignancies through the use of immunomodulatory agents to enhance adaptive immune responses. In 2018 I took an NIHR BRC funded post to lead translational science within the Targeted Therapy Group to investigate dynamic immune biomarkers of response to radiotherapy in the tumour microenvironment and systemic circulation.

Qualifications

PhD Cancer Immunology (University of Leeds)

B.Sc (Hons) Biochemistry with Molecular and Cellular Biology (University of Birmingham)

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Memberships of committees and professional bodies

British Society for Immunology

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy