Professor Nick Lemoine

CBE, MD, PhD, FRCPath, FMedSci
Medical Director, NIHR Clinical Research Network; Professor of Molecular Oncology
Director of the Barts Cancer Institute 2003-2024
Foreign Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering
Centre Lead, Group Leader
Research Focus

My groups' primary research interests are in the genomics and molecular pathology of pancreatic cancer and the development of oncolytic virotherapy.

Key Publications

Re-designing Interleukin-12 to enhance its safety and potential as an anti-tumor immunotherapeutic agent. Nat Commun (2017) 9;8(1):1395. PMID: 29123084

Lister strain vaccinia virus with thymidine kinase gene deletion is a tractable platform for development of a new generation of oncolytic virus. Gene Ther  (2015) 22: 476-484. PMID: 25876464

A Vaccinia virus armed with interleukin-10 is a promising therapeutic agent for treatment of murine pancreatic cancer. Clin Cancer Res (2015) 21: 405-416. PMID: 25416195

A multi-gene signature predicts outcome in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Genome Med (2014) 6:105. PMID: 25587357

Major Funding
  • 2016-2019- Medical Research Council, Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme Programme Grant, £0.75M
  • 2017-2022- Cancer Research UK, Centre of Excellence Award (lead applicant with five others), £12M
Other Activities
Research

I work with Professor Claude Chelala and Dr Tatjana Crnogorac-Jurcevic on the genomics and molecular pathology of pancreatic cancer. We use global profiling approaches at the genomic and proteomic levels to identify targets that can be exploited for detection and treatment of this disease. We are also developing novel platforms and algorithms for the bioinformatic interrogation and interpretation of very large, multidimensional datasets.

I work with Professor Yaohe Wang and Dr Gunnel Halldén on the development of oncolytic virotherapy, an approach that uses adenoviruses and vaccinia viruses that selectively replicate within and kill cancer cells, but leave normal cells untouched. We are also working on defining the cell survival signalling circuits that determine the sensitivity of cancer cells to this approach. The role of the immune system in modulating viral replication and tumour cell destruction is the focus of a major new programme.

Other Activities

National and International Committees (current)

  • MRC Stratified Medicine Scientific Expert Panel (vice Chair)
  • MRC-Innovate UK (Technology Strategy Board) Biocatalyst Major Awards Panel
  • NIHR Invention for Innovation Challenge Awards Panel (Chair)
  • NIHR Strategy Board
  • Irish Health Research Board/Medical Research Charities Advisory Panel (Chair)
  • Prostate Cancer UK Scientific Advisory Board (Chair)
  • Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund Scientific Advisory Board (Chair)
  • Pancreatic Cancer UK Scientific Advisory Board (Vice-Chair)
  • Lister Institute Scientific Advisory Committee
  • North-East Thames Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence Awards (Medical Vice-Chair)

Trusteeship

  • Chair of Trustees, Medical Research Foundation (MRC’s independently managed charity)

External scientific activities

  • Visiting Professor of Molecular Oncology, Zhengzhou University, China
  • VCN Biosciences (Barcelona), Scientific Advisory Board

Editorial activities

  • Commissioning Editor of British Medical Bulletin
  • Science Advisory Board: Journal of Pathology
  • Editorial Board (current):
    Future Oncology
    Current Opinion in Molecular Therapeutics
Major Funding
  • 2016-2019- Medical Research Council, Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme Programme Grant, £0.75M
  • 2017-2022- Cancer Research UK, Centre of Excellence Award (lead applicant with five others), £12M
Recent Publications

Inhibition of Bromodomain Proteins Enhances Oncolytic HAdVC5 Replication and Efficacy in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) Models Miao T, Symonds A, Hickman OJ et al. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 25(10) 1265

The capability of heterogeneous γδ T cells in cancer treatment Yan W, Dunmall LSC, Lemoine NR et al. Frontiers in Immunology 14(10) 1285801

Hypoxia-regulated secretion of IL-12 enhances antitumor activity and safety of CD19 CAR-T cells in the treatment of DLBCL Zhou W, Miao J, Cheng Z et al. Molecular Therapy — Oncolytics (2023) 30(10) 216-226

Personalized neoantigen viro-immunotherapy platform for triple-negative breast cancer Baleeiro RB, Liu P, Dunmall LSC et al. Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer (2023) 11(10) e007336

A novel microenvironment regulated system CAR-T (MRS.CAR-T) for immunotherapeutic treatment of esophageal squamous carcinoma Wang L, Wang X, Wu Y et al. Cancer Letters (2023) 568(10) 216303

Preface Lemoine NR Understanding Gene Therapy (2023) (7) xvii-xvii

Understanding gene therapy Lemoine NR (2023) (7) 1-172

Prospects for gene therapy Lemoine NR (10) 163-166

Syrian hamster as an ideal animal model for evaluation of cancer immunotherapy Jia Y, Wang Y, Dunmall LSC et al. Frontiers in Immunology 14(10) 1126969

A Novel Microenvironment Regulated System CAR-T (MRS.CAR-T) for Immunotherapeutic Treatment of Esophageal Squamous Carcinoma Wang L, Wu Y, Wang X et al. MOLECULAR THERAPY (2023) 31(11) 645-646
https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:001045144203114&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=612ae0d773dcbdba3046f6df545e9f6a

For additional publications, please click here
Team

Gene Therapy Team
Professor Yaohe Wang

Biography

I trained in medicine at St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College where I qualified with the University of London Gold Medal in 1983, specialising in pathology and oncology with posts in London and Cardiff. I gained my PhD in molecular oncology in 1988 working on the molecular genetics of thyroid cancer at The University of Wales College of Medicine in Cardiff, and then my MD in molecular oncology in 1992 working on growth factor receptor abnormalities at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London.

I was Professor of Molecular Pathology at Imperial College London, where I was Director of the Cancer Research UK Molecular Oncology Unit and the first Director of the National Translational Cancer Research Centre at Hammersmith Hospital, before moving to become Director of the Barts Cancer Institute in 2005.

I am currently Chair of Trustees of the Medical Research Foundation (MRC’s independent charity), and Chair of funding and research strategy boards including the NIHR i4i Challenge Awards Panel, Diabetes UK Research Committee, Prostate Cancer UK Research Strategy Board, Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund Scientific Committee, Irish Health Board & Research Charities Committee. I am also a member of the MRC Stratified Medicine Expert Review Committee (Vice Chair), CR-UK Clinical Research Monitoring Committee, Pancreatic Cancer UK Scientific Advisory Committee, and the Lister Institute for Preventive Medicine.

I have previously been Chairman of the MRC Clinical Research & Career Development Panel and the NIHR Clinician Scientist Appointments & Review Panel. I chaired the MRC Stem Cell Fellowship Panel, the CR-UK Clinician Scientist and Senior Clinician Fellowship Panel and the MRC Experimental Medicine Review Panel for the Molecular & Cellular Medicine Board. I was a long-serving member of the Gene Therapy Advisory Committee at the Department of Health, as well as the CR-UK Science Funding Committee, MRC Molecular & Cellular Medicine Board, CORE Scientific Advisory Board and many other scientific review committees.

I was the Editor of the Nature Specialist Journal Gene Therapy for twenty years (1997- 2017), and my research into the molecular genetics of cancer and gene therapy has been funded by programme grants from MRC, Cancer Research UK, Digestive Cancer Campaign and the European Union. I was elected as a fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2006 and as a Foreign Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering in 2017. I was presented with the China National Friendship Award by Premier Li Keqiang of the Chinese Government in 2017.