Overview
I am a Research Fellow within the Division of Infection & Immunity, funded by the Health & Care Research Wales Advanced Fellowship scheme. I am also Chief Scientific Officer at ImmunoServ Ltd. My research focuses on T cell immunology, developing novel tests to measure antigen-specific T cell responses across a range of diseases, including influenza, multiple sclerosis and cancer.
Publication
2024
- Hopkins, G. et al. 2024. Lower humoral and cellular immunity following asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to symptomatic infection in education (the ACE cohort). Journal of Clinical Immunology 44(6), article number: 147. (10.1007/s10875-024-01739-0)
2023
- Ambati, S. et al. 2023. Resolution of persistent SARS-CoV-2 infection with prolonged intravenous remdesivir and vaccination in a patient post CAR-T. International Journal of Hematology (10.1007/s12185-022-03518-2)
2022
- Scurr, M. J. et al. 2022. Magnitude of venous or capillary blood-derived SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell response determines COVID-19 immunity. Nature Communications 13, article number: 5422. (10.1038/s41467-022-32985-8)
- Tallantyre, E. C. et al. 2022. Response to COVID-19 booster vaccinations in seronegative people with multiple sclerosis.. Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders 64, article number: 103937. (10.1016/j.msard.2022.103937)
- Scurr, M. et al. 2022. Whole blood-based measurement of SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells reveals asymptomatic infection and vaccine immunogenicity in healthy subjects and patients with solid organ cancers. Immunology 165(2), pp. 250-259. (10.1111/imm.13433)
- Bradley, R. E. et al. 2022. Persistent COVID-19 infection in Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome cleared following therapeutic vaccination: a case report. Journal of Clinical Immunology 42, pp. 32-35. (10.1007/s10875-021-01158-5)
- Tallantyre, E. et al. 2022. COVID-19 vaccine response in people with multiple sclerosis. Annals of Neurology 91(1), pp. 89-100. (10.1002/ana.26251)
2021
- Thomson, A. et al. 2021. Prognostic significance of interleukin-17A-producing colorectal tumour antigen-specific T cells. British Journal of Cancer 124, pp. 1552-1555. (10.1038/s41416-021-01283-3)
2020
- Lauder, S. N. et al. 2020. Enhanced antitumor immunity through sequential targeting of PI3Kδ and LAG3. Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer 8(2), article number: e000693. (10.1136/jitc-2020-000693)
- Scurr, M. J. et al. 2020. Cancer antigen discovery is enabled by RNA-sequencing of highly purified malignant and non-malignant cells. Clinical Cancer Research (10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-19-3087)
2019
- Thomson, A. et al. 2019. The Ussing chamber system for measuring intestinal permeability in health and disease. BMC Gastroenterology 19, article number: 98. (10.1186/s12876-019-1002-4)
- Besneux, M. et al. 2019. The nature of the human T cell response to the cancer antigen 5T4 is determined by the balance of regulatory and inflammatory T cells of the same antigen-specificity: implications for vaccine design. Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy 68, pp. 247-256. (10.1007/s00262-018-2266-1)
2018
- Hughes, E., Scurr, M., Campbell, E., Jones, E., Godkin, A. and Gallimore, A. 2018. T‐cell modulation by cyclophosphamide for tumour therapy. Immunology 154(1), pp. 62-68. (10.1111/imm.12913)
2017
- Scurr, M. et al. 2017. Effect of modified vaccinia Ankara–5T4 and low-dose cyclophosphamide on antitumor immunity in metastatic colorectal cancer: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Oncology 3(10), article number: e172579. (10.1001/jamaoncol.2017.2579)
- Scurr, M. J. et al. 2017. Low-dose cyclophosphamide induces anti-tumor T-cell responses which associate with survival in metastatic colorectal cancer. Clinical Cancer Research, article number: clincanres.0895.2017. (10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-17-0895)
- Scurr, M. et al. 2017. MVA-5T4 immunotherapy and low-dose cyclophosphamide for advanced colorectal cancer (TaCTiCC): An open-label, randomized phase I/II trial.. Journal of Clinical Oncology 35(7), pp. 154-154. (10.1200/JCO.2017.35.7_suppl.154)
2016
- Clement, M. et al. 2016. Cytomegalovirus-specific IL-10-producing CD4+ T cells are governed by type-I IFN-induced IL-27 and promote virus persistence. Plos Pathogens 12(12), article number: e1006050. (10.1371/journal.ppat.1006050)
2015
- Holland, C. J. et al. 2015. Enhanced detection of antigen-specific CD4+ T cells using altered peptide flanking residue peptide-MHC class II multimers. Journal of Immunology 195(12), pp. 5827-5836. (10.4049/jimmunol.1402787)
- Scurr, M. J. et al. 2015. Assessing the prognostic value of preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen-specific T-cell responses in colorectal cancer. JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute 107(4), article number: djv001. (10.1093/jnci/djv001)
2013
- Scurr, M. et al. 2013. Escalating regulation of 5T4-specific IFN- + CD4+ T cells distinguishes colorectal cancer patients from healthy controls and provides a target for in vivo therapy. Cancer Immunology Research 1(6), article number: 416. (10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-13-0035)
- Scurr, M. J. et al. 2013. Highly prevalent colorectal cancer-infiltrating LAP+ Foxp3- T cells exhibit more potent immunosuppressive activity than Foxp3+ regulatory T cells. Mucosal Immunology n/a (10.1038/mi.2013.62)
- Davies, L. C. et al. 2013. Distinct bone marrow-derived and tissue-resident macrophage lineages proliferate at key stages during inflammation. Nature Communications 4, article number: 1886. (10.1038/ncomms2877)
- Scurr, M. J. 2013. Elucidating the impact of CD4+ T cells on tumour progression in patients with colorectal cancer. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.
2012
- Scurr, M. J., Gallimore, A. M. and Godkin, A. J. 2012. T cell subsets and colorectal cancer: discerning the good from the bad. Cellular Immunology 279(1), pp. 21-24. (10.1016/j.cellimm.2012.08.004)
- Scurr, M. J., Gallimore, A. M. and Godkin, A. J. 2012. PMO-088 A large proportion of colorectal tumour-infiltrating CD4+ T cells are suppressive irrespective of FOXP3 expression. Gut 61(S2), article number: A109. (10.1136/gutjnl-2012-302514b.88)
- Betts, G. J. et al. 2012. Suppression of tumour-specific CD4+ T cells by regulatory T cells is associated with progression of human colorectal cancer. Gut 61(8), pp. 1163-1171. (10.1136/gutjnl-2011-300970)
2011
- Clark, S. R. et al. 2011. Esterified eicosanoids are acutely generated by 5-lipoxygenase in primary human neutrophils and in human and murine infection. Blood 117(6), pp. 2033-2043. (10.1182/blood-2010-04-278887)
Articles
- Hopkins, G. et al. 2024. Lower humoral and cellular immunity following asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to symptomatic infection in education (the ACE cohort). Journal of Clinical Immunology 44(6), article number: 147. (10.1007/s10875-024-01739-0)
- Ambati, S. et al. 2023. Resolution of persistent SARS-CoV-2 infection with prolonged intravenous remdesivir and vaccination in a patient post CAR-T. International Journal of Hematology (10.1007/s12185-022-03518-2)
- Scurr, M. J. et al. 2022. Magnitude of venous or capillary blood-derived SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell response determines COVID-19 immunity. Nature Communications 13, article number: 5422. (10.1038/s41467-022-32985-8)
- Tallantyre, E. C. et al. 2022. Response to COVID-19 booster vaccinations in seronegative people with multiple sclerosis.. Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders 64, article number: 103937. (10.1016/j.msard.2022.103937)
- Scurr, M. et al. 2022. Whole blood-based measurement of SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells reveals asymptomatic infection and vaccine immunogenicity in healthy subjects and patients with solid organ cancers. Immunology 165(2), pp. 250-259. (10.1111/imm.13433)
- Bradley, R. E. et al. 2022. Persistent COVID-19 infection in Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome cleared following therapeutic vaccination: a case report. Journal of Clinical Immunology 42, pp. 32-35. (10.1007/s10875-021-01158-5)
- Tallantyre, E. et al. 2022. COVID-19 vaccine response in people with multiple sclerosis. Annals of Neurology 91(1), pp. 89-100. (10.1002/ana.26251)
- Thomson, A. et al. 2021. Prognostic significance of interleukin-17A-producing colorectal tumour antigen-specific T cells. British Journal of Cancer 124, pp. 1552-1555. (10.1038/s41416-021-01283-3)
- Lauder, S. N. et al. 2020. Enhanced antitumor immunity through sequential targeting of PI3Kδ and LAG3. Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer 8(2), article number: e000693. (10.1136/jitc-2020-000693)
- Scurr, M. J. et al. 2020. Cancer antigen discovery is enabled by RNA-sequencing of highly purified malignant and non-malignant cells. Clinical Cancer Research (10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-19-3087)
- Thomson, A. et al. 2019. The Ussing chamber system for measuring intestinal permeability in health and disease. BMC Gastroenterology 19, article number: 98. (10.1186/s12876-019-1002-4)
- Besneux, M. et al. 2019. The nature of the human T cell response to the cancer antigen 5T4 is determined by the balance of regulatory and inflammatory T cells of the same antigen-specificity: implications for vaccine design. Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy 68, pp. 247-256. (10.1007/s00262-018-2266-1)
- Hughes, E., Scurr, M., Campbell, E., Jones, E., Godkin, A. and Gallimore, A. 2018. T‐cell modulation by cyclophosphamide for tumour therapy. Immunology 154(1), pp. 62-68. (10.1111/imm.12913)
- Scurr, M. et al. 2017. Effect of modified vaccinia Ankara–5T4 and low-dose cyclophosphamide on antitumor immunity in metastatic colorectal cancer: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Oncology 3(10), article number: e172579. (10.1001/jamaoncol.2017.2579)
- Scurr, M. J. et al. 2017. Low-dose cyclophosphamide induces anti-tumor T-cell responses which associate with survival in metastatic colorectal cancer. Clinical Cancer Research, article number: clincanres.0895.2017. (10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-17-0895)
- Scurr, M. et al. 2017. MVA-5T4 immunotherapy and low-dose cyclophosphamide for advanced colorectal cancer (TaCTiCC): An open-label, randomized phase I/II trial.. Journal of Clinical Oncology 35(7), pp. 154-154. (10.1200/JCO.2017.35.7_suppl.154)
- Clement, M. et al. 2016. Cytomegalovirus-specific IL-10-producing CD4+ T cells are governed by type-I IFN-induced IL-27 and promote virus persistence. Plos Pathogens 12(12), article number: e1006050. (10.1371/journal.ppat.1006050)
- Holland, C. J. et al. 2015. Enhanced detection of antigen-specific CD4+ T cells using altered peptide flanking residue peptide-MHC class II multimers. Journal of Immunology 195(12), pp. 5827-5836. (10.4049/jimmunol.1402787)
- Scurr, M. J. et al. 2015. Assessing the prognostic value of preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen-specific T-cell responses in colorectal cancer. JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute 107(4), article number: djv001. (10.1093/jnci/djv001)
- Scurr, M. et al. 2013. Escalating regulation of 5T4-specific IFN- + CD4+ T cells distinguishes colorectal cancer patients from healthy controls and provides a target for in vivo therapy. Cancer Immunology Research 1(6), article number: 416. (10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-13-0035)
- Scurr, M. J. et al. 2013. Highly prevalent colorectal cancer-infiltrating LAP+ Foxp3- T cells exhibit more potent immunosuppressive activity than Foxp3+ regulatory T cells. Mucosal Immunology n/a (10.1038/mi.2013.62)
- Davies, L. C. et al. 2013. Distinct bone marrow-derived and tissue-resident macrophage lineages proliferate at key stages during inflammation. Nature Communications 4, article number: 1886. (10.1038/ncomms2877)
- Scurr, M. J., Gallimore, A. M. and Godkin, A. J. 2012. T cell subsets and colorectal cancer: discerning the good from the bad. Cellular Immunology 279(1), pp. 21-24. (10.1016/j.cellimm.2012.08.004)
- Scurr, M. J., Gallimore, A. M. and Godkin, A. J. 2012. PMO-088 A large proportion of colorectal tumour-infiltrating CD4+ T cells are suppressive irrespective of FOXP3 expression. Gut 61(S2), article number: A109. (10.1136/gutjnl-2012-302514b.88)
- Betts, G. J. et al. 2012. Suppression of tumour-specific CD4+ T cells by regulatory T cells is associated with progression of human colorectal cancer. Gut 61(8), pp. 1163-1171. (10.1136/gutjnl-2011-300970)
- Clark, S. R. et al. 2011. Esterified eicosanoids are acutely generated by 5-lipoxygenase in primary human neutrophils and in human and murine infection. Blood 117(6), pp. 2033-2043. (10.1182/blood-2010-04-278887)
Thesis
- Scurr, M. J. 2013. Elucidating the impact of CD4+ T cells on tumour progression in patients with colorectal cancer. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.
Research
My research investigates the phenotype, function and standardised measurement of cancer-, bacteria- and virus-specific T cells. My HCRW Advanced Fellowship project will create and assess the effectiveness of a combined T cell and antibody blood test to measure and identify vaccine-induced immunological correlates of protection from influenza infection.
My prior work has also uncovered the suppressive effects of certain populations of tumour infiltrating T cells on other anti-cancer T cells, leading to the design and implementation of the phase I/II clinical trial, TaCTiCC, testing a novel immunotherapeutic combination in advanced CRC patients. Following this, I am currently investigating whether low-dose cyclophosphamide can prevent relapse in 500 post-surgical CRC patients recruited to the phase II trial, BICCC.
In addition to this, I am also the co-founder and chief scientific officer of ImmunoServ, a Cardiff-based biotechnology company specialising in the immunology sector, with its own R&D pipeline for developing a range of blood tests that measure T cell responses to viruses, bacteria and cancer. I am principal investigator on multiple projects to develop T cell tests for diagnostics and population-scale immunity screens across a range of diseases.
Biography
2024-present: HCRW Advanced Fellow, Cardiff University
2020-present: Chief Scientific Officer, ImmunoServ
2013-2020: Post-doctoral Researcher, Cardiff University
2009-2013: PhD (Cancer Immunology), Cardiff University
Honours and awards
2022: MediWales Innovation Award
Professional memberships
- British Society for Immunology
- MediWales
Committees and reviewing
- Assessor for Innovate UK
- Member of a Wellcome/CEPI-funded ‘Industry and Innovation’ Advisory Group
- Peer reviewer for multiple academic journals
Contact Details
+44 29206 87080
Cardiff Medicentre, University Hospital of Wales, Heath Park, Cardiff, CF14 4UJ
Henry Wellcome Building for Biomedical Research, Floor 3, University Hospital of Wales, Heath Park, Cardiff, CF14 4XN
Research themes
Specialisms
- Immunology