Dr Vicki Jennings joins the JBUMC as independent group leader in epithelial cancer immunology

Posted on 25 March 2025

In December 2024, Vicki Jennings moved from University of Leeds to the Jack Birch Unit at York to begin a five-year independent fellowship as an independent group leader in epithelial cancer immunology.

Vicki earned her PhD from the University of Leeds in 2008, where she investigated oncolytic virus and cellular immunology combination strategies for the treatment of ovarian cancer. She then moved to Canada to join Dr John Bell's laboratory at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, where she pioneered the development of novel oncolytic viruses designed to target key immunosuppressive cells within tumours. After returning to the UK, Vicki took on a five-year postdoctoral fellowship at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, further honing her immunology expertise, developing novel 3D human systems to investigate cancer immunotherapies in vitro. Subsequently, she received funding from Ovarian Cancer Action to continue her work on the development of novel oncolytic viruses for ovarian cancer treatment.

Vicky's lab is focused on exploring strategies to harness the immune system to recognise and eliminate tumour cells, as well as investigating the mechanisms underlying tumour-induced immune tolerance. The primary goal is to identify the key processes that induce and sustain the immunosuppressive environment within tumours and to develop approaches to counteract these effects.

Learn more about the staff and students at the Jack Birch Unit.