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Biography
Jacqui studied for a Bachelor's degree in Pathology and Microbiology at the University of Bristol completing a PhD in the area of tumour microcirculation and lymphatic vessels in the lab of Professor Dave Bates at Bristol. This is really where her interest in the tumour microenvironment began. In 2005, she moved to Lausanne, Switzerland and the laboratory of Professor Melody Swartz, at the Institute of Bioengineering, EPFL for her post-doctoral training to further specialize in lymphatic functionality, and how this could relate to tumour progression.
In Mid 2011, she was appointed as a Group Leader at the Medical Research Council Cancer Unit, University of Cambridge, where she started a new research programme and gained tenure in 2019. In April 2022, she moved to King's College London and her lab is continuing a programme of research to advance understanding of how the tumour stroma operates to help a tumour develop and evolve. Jacqui was appointed Professor in Cancer Immunology at the University of Nottingham in January 2024. Her group are especially interested in the mechanisms by which these non-cancerous cells are able to shut off the immune responses to avoid our defenses, and how they may use this information to improve therapy responses.
Expertise Summary
The Stromal Immunology Lab focuses on detangling the mechanisms by which stromal cells such as fibroblasts and endothelial cells modulate immunity, with the ultimate aim of developing new therapeutic approaches
One of our focuses is understanding how these stromal populations regulate immune suppressive networks within the tumour microenvironment, revealing the mechanisms by which effective immune responses are lost to instead promote disease. To do this, we consider the intimate relationship between the tumour and connected lymph node niches utilizing GEMMs, proteomic and genomic approaches, and functional assays.