Professor Robert Hawkins
Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Cellular Therapeutics Ltd, CRUK Chair of Medical Oncology at The University of Manchester & Consultant in Medical Oncology at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
Robert's research interests are in gene and immunotherapy. In addition to clinical training at the Royal Marsden Hospital and Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge he was an MRC Research Fellow with Dr Greg Winter and Dr Cesar Milstein at the MRC laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. His work there was important for the development of commercially successful antibodies.
His PhD was in antibody engineering and as a Cancer Research UK Senior Clinical Fellow he developed translational research interests in antibody based gene therapy. He was first appointed as a consultant in Medical Oncology at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge in 1995 and then became Professor of Oncology at the University of Bristol in 1996. In 1998 he moved to the Christie Hospital to become Professor and Director of Medical Oncology. Clinically, Professor Hawkins focuses on treating renal cancer and on developing immunotherapy, particularly cellular immunotherapy. He heads a clinical research group undertaking trials and also a range of early phase clinical trials of biological agents including vaccines, antibody based molecules and cell therapies. He has successfully led the clinical development of biological agents from Phase I to Phase III studies. He has received grant funding from Cancer Research UK, the Kay Kendall Leukaemia Fund and the European Union (he is Co-ordinator of the ATTACK project and was co-ordinator of the ATTRACT integrated training network) and has published widely in scientific and clinical journals as well as an inventor/co-inventor on several antibody related patents.
Professor Hawkins led the development of the GMP authorised facility which has lead to a commercial venture - Cellular Therapeutics Ltd (CTL).
Robert's research interests are in gene and immunotherapy. In addition to clinical training at the Royal Marsden Hospital and Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge he was an MRC Research Fellow with Dr Greg Winter and Dr Cesar Milstein at the MRC laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. His work there was important for the development of commercially successful antibodies.
His PhD was in antibody engineering and as a Cancer Research UK Senior Clinical Fellow he developed translational research interests in antibody based gene therapy. He was first appointed as a consultant in Medical Oncology at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge in 1995 and then became Professor of Oncology at the University of Bristol in 1996. In 1998 he moved to the Christie Hospital to become Professor and Director of Medical Oncology. Clinically, Professor Hawkins focuses on treating renal cancer and on developing immunotherapy, particularly cellular immunotherapy. He heads a clinical research group undertaking trials and also a range of early phase clinical trials of biological agents including vaccines, antibody based molecules and cell therapies. He has successfully led the clinical development of biological agents from Phase I to Phase III studies. He has received grant funding from Cancer Research UK, the Kay Kendall Leukaemia Fund and the European Union (he is Co-ordinator of the ATTACK project and was co-ordinator of the ATTRACT integrated training network) and has published widely in scientific and clinical journals as well as an inventor/co-inventor on several antibody related patents.
Professor Hawkins led the development of the GMP authorised facility which has lead to a commercial venture - Cellular Therapeutics Ltd (CTL).
Dr Neill Moray Mackenzie
Non-Executive Director, Chairman
Neill's technical background stems from a PhD and Post-Doc in immunology, followed by a Wellcome Lectureship position at the University o London. Neill moved into Pharmaceutical R&D with Wellcome and Mallinckrodt Inc. as Head of Immunology. Subsequently, over the last twenty years, Neill has garnered a wealth of experience in the establishment and funding of SMEs in immunotherapy and gene therapy sector. With previous executive board membership at Cambridge Genetics, Oxford Biomedica, Avidex (Immunocore/Adaptimmune), Medigene, CMP Therapeutics and more recently Biotecnol and Trimunocor, Neill's passion for the Immuno-oncology sector is evident and he is well placed to assist with the onward development of Cellular Therapeutics.
Non-Executive Director, Chairman
Neill's technical background stems from a PhD and Post-Doc in immunology, followed by a Wellcome Lectureship position at the University o London. Neill moved into Pharmaceutical R&D with Wellcome and Mallinckrodt Inc. as Head of Immunology. Subsequently, over the last twenty years, Neill has garnered a wealth of experience in the establishment and funding of SMEs in immunotherapy and gene therapy sector. With previous executive board membership at Cambridge Genetics, Oxford Biomedica, Avidex (Immunocore/Adaptimmune), Medigene, CMP Therapeutics and more recently Biotecnol and Trimunocor, Neill's passion for the Immuno-oncology sector is evident and he is well placed to assist with the onward development of Cellular Therapeutics.
Dr Nicola Price
Chief Operating Officer and Co-founder of Cellular Therapeutics Ltd
Nicola obtained a PhD in Cell Biology, supervised by Professor Mark Ferguson, at The University of Manchester. She worked as a Post Doctoral researcher for several years, gaining commercial experience by leading projects jointly with SMEs, before taking the position of Project Manager for the University of Manchester's Gene and Immunotherapy Research Group in 2008.
Nicola has managed several successful European Commission Framework Programme research projects, the most recent involving 17 partners from across Europe (www.attack-cancer.eu). The predecessor to our current "Adoptive engineered T cell Trials to Achieve Cancer Killing (ATTACK)" project initiated the successful Cellular Therapy of Cancer Symposium series which Nicola helps to run along with a local organiser at the Symposium's host site. It attracts the leaders in the field to present their work from Europe and the US. During this time as Project Manager Nicola assisted with the development of a new cell manufacturing facility which aimed to provide individualised cell therapies for treatments and trials led by Professor Hawkins. She has since managed the transition from academic unit to the birth and continued operations of Cellular Therapeutics Ltd.
Nicola obtained a PhD in Cell Biology, supervised by Professor Mark Ferguson, at The University of Manchester. She worked as a Post Doctoral researcher for several years, gaining commercial experience by leading projects jointly with SMEs, before taking the position of Project Manager for the University of Manchester's Gene and Immunotherapy Research Group in 2008.
Nicola has managed several successful European Commission Framework Programme research projects, the most recent involving 17 partners from across Europe (www.attack-cancer.eu). The predecessor to our current "Adoptive engineered T cell Trials to Achieve Cancer Killing (ATTACK)" project initiated the successful Cellular Therapy of Cancer Symposium series which Nicola helps to run along with a local organiser at the Symposium's host site. It attracts the leaders in the field to present their work from Europe and the US. During this time as Project Manager Nicola assisted with the development of a new cell manufacturing facility which aimed to provide individualised cell therapies for treatments and trials led by Professor Hawkins. She has since managed the transition from academic unit to the birth and continued operations of Cellular Therapeutics Ltd.
Dr Ryan Guest
Director of Cell Production and Co-founder of Cellular Therapeutics Ltd
Ryan leads the team tasked with designing and implementing state of the art cellular therapy manufacturing processes. Using Clean room free technologies multiple novel therapies can be developed and manufactured in parallel within the GMP compliant facility.
Ryan has 12 years of experience in the design, development and implementation of GMP compliant Cell Therapy manufacturing processes and 17 years of experience of working in the field of adoptive T cell therapy.
He also has a wealth of experience in designing and setting up sophisticated, state-of-the-art, GMP compliant facilities, having lead the team to install, and subsequently expand and update, the CTL's MHRA Authorised, GMP certified, facility.
Ryan works closely with clinicians, clinical trial coordinators, academics and industrial partners to design cell therapy manufacturing processes, develop regulatory packages and deliver high quality cell products to healthcare organisations for infusion in patients.
Ryan leads the team tasked with designing and implementing state of the art cellular therapy manufacturing processes. Using Clean room free technologies multiple novel therapies can be developed and manufactured in parallel within the GMP compliant facility.
Ryan has 12 years of experience in the design, development and implementation of GMP compliant Cell Therapy manufacturing processes and 17 years of experience of working in the field of adoptive T cell therapy.
He also has a wealth of experience in designing and setting up sophisticated, state-of-the-art, GMP compliant facilities, having lead the team to install, and subsequently expand and update, the CTL's MHRA Authorised, GMP certified, facility.
Ryan works closely with clinicians, clinical trial coordinators, academics and industrial partners to design cell therapy manufacturing processes, develop regulatory packages and deliver high quality cell products to healthcare organisations for infusion in patients.
Dr John Bridgeman
Director of Cell Therapy Research,
John undertook his PhD in 2004 under the supervision of Dr. David Gilham and Prof. Robert Hawkins at the University of Manchester. During this time his main interest was uncovering the signalling and molecular interactions of chimeric antigen receptors (CAR) and development of novel costimulatory CARs. John continued his research with Dr. Gilham and Prof Hawkins following his PhD, before a short period of research with Prof. Vaskar Saha at the University of Manchester studying CNS invasion in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
In 2010 John moved to the labs of Prof. David Price and Prof. Andrew Sewell at Cardiff University where he focussed on T-cell receptor (TCR) gene transfer, using it as a tool to understand biological phenomena such as alloreactivity and TCR cross-reactivity, as well as further developing adoptive cell therapy strategies. In 2013 he was awarded a Wellcome Trust/NISCHR ISSF research fellowship within the Institute of Infection and Immunity studying cross-reactivity profiles of virus specific T-cells.
Director of Cell Therapy Research,
John undertook his PhD in 2004 under the supervision of Dr. David Gilham and Prof. Robert Hawkins at the University of Manchester. During this time his main interest was uncovering the signalling and molecular interactions of chimeric antigen receptors (CAR) and development of novel costimulatory CARs. John continued his research with Dr. Gilham and Prof Hawkins following his PhD, before a short period of research with Prof. Vaskar Saha at the University of Manchester studying CNS invasion in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
In 2010 John moved to the labs of Prof. David Price and Prof. Andrew Sewell at Cardiff University where he focussed on T-cell receptor (TCR) gene transfer, using it as a tool to understand biological phenomena such as alloreactivity and TCR cross-reactivity, as well as further developing adoptive cell therapy strategies. In 2013 he was awarded a Wellcome Trust/NISCHR ISSF research fellowship within the Institute of Infection and Immunity studying cross-reactivity profiles of virus specific T-cells.