INTRODUCTION

Stephen Beers is Professor of Immunology and Immunotherapy at the Centre for Cancer Immunology in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton.

Stephen Beers graduated from the University of Southampton in 1999 with a degree in Biochemistry. Subsequently he was awarded a personal Ph.D. studentship from the BBSRC and graduated in 2003. He then moved to the Cancer Sciences Division (CSD) in the Faculty of Medicine and undertook his first postdoctoral fellowship in Immunochemistry and Immunotherapy. Following two successful postdoctoral positions, he was awarded a career track fellowship and established his own group studying antibody effector function.

His research group is interested in how antibodies work to result in tumor regression. The research is currently focused on how the tumor microenvironment, particularly macrophages, affect effector function and how this could be manipulated to enhance antibody efficacy in patients. They have built a portfolio of complimentary models incorporating in vitro 3D modelling, appropriate in vivo model systems and primary clinical material.