NYU London Professor’s Research on Using the Immune System as a Defence Against Cancer

NYU London Professor Valerie Wells is a senior co-author of an internationally important scientific paper published in the British Journal of Cancer where she and her co-authors report that betaGBP, a naturally occurring molecule and a component of the immune system, can not only successfully target and kill cancer cells but can also encourage immunity against cancer resurgence. 

The work on beta-GBP began at King’s College London where, together with Professor Livio Mallucci, Professor Wells discovered the anti-oncogenic properties of beta-GBP. This discovery provides for a novel immunotherapeutic approach based on one natural molecule that combines the properties of a tumour suppressor and an activator of procedures necessary for the long term protection against cancer recurrences. It is an integral part of a natural cancer surveillance process transposed to therapeutic use, a strategy that could secure long term protection by instating a state of cancer specific immunosurveillance. 

As a natural component of the anti-cancer immune network, unlike pharmacological inducers which carry associated toxicity and uncertainty, beta-GBP has no harmful properties; it is a physiological molecule and as such already suitable, ideally, for clinical trials.

Translation of beta-GBP to the clinic could open a new therapeutic opportunity to safely combine direct killing of cancer cells and the activation of the immune system to prevent recurrences, and would represent a major step forward in the management of cancer. 

In addition to her cutting-edge research, Professor Wells has “an interest in student education and the opportunity for science students to study abroad as part of their undergraduate learning, and an interest in American academic life”.  She has been teaching Principles of Biology I and II at NYU London since 2002. Professor Wells finds teaching at NYU London rewarding. “The combination of research and teaching is most both enjoyable and valuable; the commitment of NYU students to their studies, their ideas and their discussion together with their interest in relating their studies to the wider context gives the teaching an interesting and stimulating atmosphere. Also the integration of some aspects of the research into the teaching can give students some awareness of current developments in some fields and an insight into a career in research. It is also enjoyable to hear how students have progressed when they make contact with news of their successes later their careers.”

We applaud her discovery and this publication and look forward to learning about what will come next for Professor Wells and the rich contribution she makes to the NYU London academic community. You can read the paper here