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The CRUK Oxford Centre is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Tim Elliot as its new co-Director.

Headshot of cancer researcher Professor Tim Elliott

The CRUK Oxford Centre is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Tim Elliot as its new co-Director. Tim will work alongside Professor Mark Middleton who has filled the role since 2017, to develop and deliver the research strategy for the Oxford Centre.

Professor Tim Elliott is taking over from Professor Xin Lu, who is stepping down after over 3 successful years in the post. During her tenure, Xin has led a step change in the coordination and integration of research efforts across the city. Under Xin’s leadership, a collaborative network of early cancer detection researchers across Oxford has been established and supported through the formation of the Oxford Centre for Early Cancer Detection (OxCODE). As well as providing a forum to stimulate and catalyse research in this critically important research field, significant programmatic funding has been obtained, including for liver (DeLIVER – Prof. Ellie Barnes) and lung (DART – Prof. Fergus Gleeson) cancers, along with numerous seed and project external funding awards in early detection. Xin will continue to play a major role in directing and supporting the CRUK Oxford Centre strategy in her continuing positions as OxCODE Director, NIHR Oxford BRC Cancer Theme Co-Lead and Director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Oxford Branch.

Tim has recently joined the Nuffield Department of Medicine and Oriel College as the Kidani Professor of Immuno-Oncology. He re-joins the Oxford community from Southampton University, having previously completed his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at Balliol and subsequently holding a Professorial post at the Weatherall Institute for Molecular Medicine. Tim brings with him a wealth of expertise and experience in leading international collaborative multidisciplinary research; and he helped lead the campaign for the Southampton Centre for Cancer Immunology which opened in 2018 and where he was Director until his appointment in Oxford.   He is ideally placed to help lead the Oxford Centre in its efforts to ensure that cancer research across the city continues to drive improvements in cancer patient care through enhancing our fundamental understanding of the disease.

Professor Tim Elliot, Cancer Research UK Oxford Centre Co-director and Kidani Professor of Immuno-Oncology at the Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, said:

“This is a great time to be joining Oxford.  Recent events have demonstrated how effectively Oxford researchers can come together to generate the new knowledge needed to drive life-saving treatments for a new pathogen.  There is every sign that we can focus that collegiality on beating cancer too.

"I am excited by the prospect of helping multidisciplinary teams to converge on difficult problems that will ultimately lead to better clinical outcomes for people diagnosed with cancer.  I am also really looking forward to working with Mark, whose clinical and translational expertise and great leadership will be key to pulling our discovery science through into the clinic.”

 

Professor Mark Middleton, Cancer Research UK Oxford Centre Co-director and Head of Department of Oncology at the University of Oxford, said:

“I am delighted that Tim will help lead our diverse research community. His successful approach to delivering internationally recognised multi-disciplinary immunology research makes him an exciting addition to Oxford. Tim joins us a fascinating time, with more opportunities than ever for ensuring that cancer patients benefit from the world-leading research being carried out across Oxford. His track record of bringing together fundamental, translational and clinical researchers that span traditional research boundaries will be critical in building on our recent progress exploiting Oxford’s cancer research ecosystem to improve patient care worldwide.

"The leadership Xin has provided to the Cancer Centre over the last 3 years has been transformative. There are many clinical trials and early detection programmes that would not have taken place without her, and this is testament to both her strategic vision and the time and effort she has put into the Centre during her tenure. I’d like to thank Xin on behalf of all the researchers across Oxford who have benefited from her leadership. I look forward to continuing to work with her on delivering the Centre’s goals in her capacity as OxCODE Director, NIHR Oxford BRC Cancer Theme Co-Lead, and Director of the Oxford Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research."

A very warm welcome to Professor Tim Elliott from the CRUK Oxford Centre team and wider cancer research community here in Oxford.

 

Professor Tim Elliot Biography

Professor Tim Elliott left the University of Oxford with a first in Biochemistry in 1983, received a PhD from the University of Southampton in 1986 and completed his postdoctoral training at MIT. He held a lectureship and later a professorship in immunology (Weatherall Institute for Molecular Medicine and Balliol College, University of Oxford) between 1990-2000 before being appointed to the Chair of Experimental Oncology, School of Medicine, University of Southampton.

He was Associate Dean (Research) for the Faculty of Medicine between 2005 and 2015. He’s held appointments on Scientific Advisory boards at the Wellcome Trust, the Association of International Cancer Research, Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research, Symphogen, and Avviity Therapeutics; chairs the CRUK Expert Review Group for Cancer Immunology and sits on the CRUK Discovery Science Research Committee. He has published over 130 papers in the field of molecular immunology; was visiting lecturer of the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, University of Edmonton, Alberta in 1999; and recently held a visiting Professorship at the Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and in 2014 he was elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences.

Professor Elliott was amongst the key group of immunologists who developed studies of antigen presentation at the molecular level during the 1990s, undertaking a series of studies to determine and define the immunostimulatory properties of MHC Class I molecules and elucidating the molecular mechanisms of co-factor assisted peptide loading of MHC Class I in antigen presenting cells: work considered to be the foundation of much of the recent work on antigen presentation. The work underpins rational T-cell based vaccine design and continues to fuel translational research where discoveries in the areas of antigen discovery, T cell regulation and immunodominance are making a significant impact on new and ongoing cancer immunotherapy trials.

His mechanistic studies have always benefitted from an active interface with the physical sciences,  mathematics and computer science, nanofabrication and engineering.