Jason Bennett

Cancer immunotherapy has represented a paradigm shift in cancer therapy. However, at present immunotherapies help only a minority of patients and in certain types of cancer they are unsuccessful due to the overriding immunosuppression mechanisms in the tumour microenvironment (TME). The mechanisms underlying the immunoinhibitory activities of the TME are presently poorly understood. My research aims to apply various molecular biological techniques to discover novel non-enzymatic modulators of key pro-inflammatory signalling pathways. This could potentially identify and target key protein-protein interactions in order to release the “natural brakes” of inflammatory signalling pathways in innate immune cells. This research will advance our understanding of the regulatory mechanisms of innate immune cell signalling in the host’s response to pathogens and cancer leading to the development of a new class of innate immunotherapies, which will be able to convert immunological “cold” tumours (e.g. prostate, glioblastoma, ovarian and pancreatic cancer) into ones that are responsive to immunotherapy.