Personal profile
Biography
2010 - present
Academic staff, currently Professor of Cancer Immunology, University of Manchester, Faculty of Life Sciences and then Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health
2004 - 2010
Cancer Research UK Career Development Fellow, University of Manchester
1999-2004
Post-doctoral research associate with Hans Clevers, Academic Hospital Utrecht and Hubrecht Laboratories, The Netherlands
1998
PhD University of Glasgow, Faculty of Medicine. Research performed at Beatson laboratories under the supervison of Dr Donald M. Black
Research interests
Currently, my laboratory investigates how to harness T cells to eradicate cancer. On the one hand, we investigate adaptive resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors, a class of drugs that reinvigorate T cells that have become dysfunctional in cancers. Sometimes this dysfunction appears in response to therapy (adaptive resistance) and our aim is to reverse this in order to preserve a clinical response. We are also engineering naive T cells to react to tumour antigens by providing them with novel antigen receptors. Again these engineered T cells may become inactive after being inside the tumour microenvironment and we are investigating how to overcome this obstacle too.
Opportunities
Self-funded PhD: Turbocharging T cell-therapeutics for solid cancer
Education/Academic qualification
Doctor of Philosophy, The Beatson Institute for Cancer Research
Oct 1994 → Sept 1998
Award Date: 14 Aug 1998
Bachelor of Arts, Natural Sciences, University of Cambridge
Oct 1990 → Jun 1994
Award Date: 30 Jun 1994
Research Beacons, Institutes and Platforms
- Lydia Becker Institute
Accepting PhD students
- Accepting PhD students
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being -
SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy -
SDG 14 Life Below Water
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Combined PARP14 Inhibition and PD-1 Blockade Promotes Cytotoxic T Cell Quiescence and Modulates Macrophage Polarization in Relapsed Melanoma
Leshem, R., Sefton, K. N., Wong, C. W., Lin, I.-H., Isaac, D. T., Niepel, M. & Hurlstone, A., 27 Jan 2025, In: Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer. 13, 1, e010683.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Dual effect of targeting LSD1 on the invasiveness and the mechanical response of acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells
González-Novo, R., Armesto, M., González-Murillo, Á., Dreger, M., Hurlstone, A. F. L., Benito, A., Samaniego, R., Ramírez, M. & Redondo-Muñoz, J., 1 Feb 2025, In: Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy = Biomédecine & pharmacothérapie. 183, 117830.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Systemic immunosuppression from ultraviolet radiation exposure inhibits cancer immunotherapy
Durão, P., Budden, T., Mallela, K., Gutteridge, M., Mataloni, I., Gurung, S., Mastrangelo, M., Roberts, L., Banyard, A., Ashton, G., Lord, G., Hurlstone, A., Valpione, S. & Viros Usandizaga, A., 29 Sept 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Transcriptome Remodelling and Changes in Growth and Cardiometabolic Phenotype Result following Grb10a Knockdown in the Early Life of the Zebrafish
Evans, B. L., Garner, T., De Leonibus, C., Wright, L., Sharps, M., Wearing, O. H., Ripley, D. M., Shiels, H. A., Hurlstone, A. F. L., Clayton, P. E. & Stevens, A., 19 Jul 2025, In: Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences. 82, 1, 27 p., 281.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Transitory Schwann Cell Precursor and hybrid states underpin melanoma therapy resistance and metastasis
Gopalan, V., Wong, C. W., Leshem, R., Owen, L., Vallius, T., Shi, Y., Jiang, Y., Pérez-Guijarro, E., Wu, E., Chin, S., Ebersole, J., Smith, C., Sassano, A., Constantino, M. A., Haley, M. J., Livak, F., Simpson, R. M., Day, C.-P., Hurlstone, A. & Hannenhalli, S. & 2 others, , 23 Jul 2025, bioRxiv, 40 p. (bioRxiv).Research output: Preprint/Working paper › Preprint
Open Access
Projects
- 10 Finished
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DGAT1 is a Novel Melanoma Oncogene.
Hurlstone, A. (PI), Lorigan, P. (CoI) & Nicolaou, A. (CoI)
1/06/19 → 31/05/20
Project: Research
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Targeting the inflammatory microenvironment in melanoma
Hurlstone, A. (PI)
1/09/15 → 30/06/19
Project: Research
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Characterising T helper subsets in the model teleost zebrafish (Danio rerio) - JOINT APPLICATION WITH UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN
Hurlstone, A. (PI)
1/03/14 → 28/02/17
Project: Research
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Can the immune response to melanoma be engineered through reprogramming CD4 helper cells.
Hurlstone, A. (PI)
1/07/13 → 30/06/16
Project: Research