Prof. Thistlethwaite is an Honorary Professor at The University of Manchester. She graduated from The University of Cambridge MB PhD programme in 1999. Her PhD, under the supervision of Professor Sir Martin Evans, explored the molecular mechanisms that lead to cancer in inherited breast cancer syndromes.
Following training posts at Liverpool Royal, The Royal Marsden and The Christie, she became a consultant at The Christie in 2007. Her clinical practice is in Experimental Cancer Medicine and immune-oncology and her academic focus is clinical trial development in immunotherapy and adoptive T-cell therapy.
Fiona leads the Manchester health consortium, iMATCH, which was awarded almost £9 million by Innovate UK to ensure that more patients benefit from a new generation of advanced cell therapies. She is the Medical Director of the Christie Clinical Research Facility which delivers over 400 clinical trials to cancer patients.

Prof. Thistlethwaite has an active clinical trials research portfolio in early phase clinical trials (adult solid tumours) within the Experimental Cancer Medicine Team at The Christie. Fiona has a particular focus on immune-oncology, in particular adoptive cell therapies, combination immunotherapies and immune biomarkers. Among Fiona’s research interests is how the immune system can be harnessed against cancer, in particular using adoptive cell transfer of T-cells activated against cancer antigens. She is also a member of the MRC DPFS (Medical Research Council Developmental Pathways Funding Scheme) panel which awards over £30M funding to innovative clinical research programmes.

Prof. Thistlethwaite is an educational and clinical supervisor of doctors in training and lectures at The University of Manchester, including the MRes in Experimental Cancer Medicine.