The University of Southampton has been at the forefront of cancer immunology research for many years and about five years ago
We had this vision to build the UK's first Centre dedicated exclusively to cancer immunology research.
To make the vision a reality, we needed to raise at least
twenty five million pounds to build the Centre, push forward cancer immunology research
and really deliver novel treatments to many more people.
I was diagnosed in 2011, I felt a lump in my neck and
and after a couple of tests, including a biopsy,
they told me I had lymphoma.
Not long after John had been diagnosed
I became very ill with a very bad cough,
I started losing weight, I couldn't eat.
It took a little while but was eventually diagnosed as a melanoma
and it was in lymph nodes around my windpipe.
It was a pretty tough time, I was offered Immunotherapy, which I didn't really know much about
but at that point I was happy to have whatever was on offer and it basically saved my life.
My treatment was part of a trial run by Southampton University
and I've been in remission obviously ever since.
We don't put things off anymore, now if we want to do something we go and do it.
Every day is a gift to us now.
I hadn't even considered the fact that children got cancer.
It wasn't a world that I was aware of.
She'd just had her second birthday and
she was just out of sorts really. I thought something was not quite right
so we took her to A&E and they did an
x-ray on her and we saw
the Oncologist and he came and said that he thinks
there's something growing there that shouldn't be
and then we found out what it was. It was a neuroblastoma.
So we had to have very aggressive chemotherapy.
We were offered the opportunity to be part of a test group.
It was essentially explained that immunotherapy is a treatment that will teach the body to
fight the cancer by itself and Belle was the first person in Southampton to have it.
When you're going through something like that, you are very much on edge, but now she's yeah, she's wonderful.
Immunotherapy is already saving lives and thanks to the incredible generosity of our donors
we're able to step up that activity for example,
Dr Juliet Gray is leading a transatlantic clinical trial in children with neuroblastoma
to try and improve the outcome for kids with this disease
Neuroblastoma is one of the commonest children's cancers that I see
it's an aggressive cancer that affects little children mostly under the age of five years and
the trial that we're doing is looking at trying out two different new
Immunotherapies in these children to generate an immune response to the tumour and help keep the tumour away.
I think Southampton has the true meaning of
bench-to-bedside
so the research that is being carried out in the Centre, the development of the
treatment mechanisms, they can be translated straight into the clinical trials and tested here in Southampton,
which is very exciting!
Nina and I both had cancer ourselves and we know what a devastating thing it is to be diagnosed with cancer
so we thought wouldn't it be fantastic to see some results in our lifetime and it's right on our doorstep.
Our ability to influence and make a difference over our own individual
circumstances that ability to understand what's going on in our bodies
and make a difference and to help people, is a wonderful thing.
And I think for me
it's just humbling and there is the whole element of, there but for the grace
but that idea that you can help people find a solution
and not be frightened by what's going to happen and to
actually have hope is an extraordinary thing!
The effort that people have gone to to raise this 25 million pounds has been truly inspiring to us
and I just can't thank people enough!
I just like organising things to raise money for the Immunology Centre because it's so good!
But of course the journey doesn't end there, we're really at the beginning of a whole new chapter.
That's why we've set up the cancer immunology talent fund
Which has three main threads, the first is to attract the world's best talent,
the second is to train a whole new generation of Cancer Immunologists and we hope to set up the UK's first
dedicated Phd Program in cancer immunology
and the third is to promote interdisciplinary research.
I'm so proud to be leading the Centre for Cancer Immunology and the future is really exciting.
I think with your help we're really at the beginning of a whole new chapter in cancer immunology research.
Belle is living proof that
Immunotherapy is a fantastic treatment
without it, who knows where we'd be now.
We are living evidence of the great
work that's being done.
We didn't know all this work was going on,
we certainly do now!
