> David Cameron Wraith
Prof. Wraith is an immunologist who has worked in the field of T cell biology for almost 40 years, best known for his ground-breaking work on autoimmunity and immunotherapy. His team has demonstrated that autoreactive T-cells can be silenced by suitable fragments of their protein targets, defined the rules governing the design of therapeutic peptides, and revealed the molecular basis of this T cell desensitisation. Prof. Wraith has authorized almost 200 scientific papers, reflected in Google Scholar H-Index 57, and applied for more than 12 patent families.
Prof. Wraith's Biography:
After his PhD from University of London, Kings College in 1981, Prof. Wraith gained training as an immunologist with Ita Askonas at the National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill where he worked on the mechanism whereby cytotoxic T cells respond to and kill influenza virus infected cells through recognition of peptide fragments of antigen.
In 1986 and 1987 Prof. Wraith was awarded MRC and National MS Society fellowships to work in the laboratory of Hugh McDevitt in Stanford, where he published influential papers describing how monoclonal antibodies and synthetic peptides could be developed for immunotherapy of autoimmune diseases.
In 1989, Prof. Wraith was awarded the Wellcome Trust Senior Fellowship to establish a new laboratory in Cambridge working on mechanisms of immunological tolerance; his group was among the first to demonstrate induction of peripheral tolerance by administration of soluble peptide antigens.
From 1996 to 2004 he was the Head of the Department of Pathology & Microbiology at the University of Bristol. His laboratory focused on the mechanism of antigen-specific immunotherapy, described the essential rules in designing therapeutic peptides, and led to the establishment of a University of Bristol spinout company, Apitope NV.
Prof. Wraith is currently Professor of Immunology and Director of the Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy at the University of Birmingham (UK). His team is currently defining the differentiation pathway of antigen induced Treg cells and the mechanism by which these cells suppress disease. The aim of this approach is to improve the efficacy of peptide therapy for treating autoimmune and allergic diseases.
Prof. Wraith's Academic Responsibilities:
1) Former member of panels and committees: Wellcome Trust Infection and Immunity Panel; Wellcome Trust Expert Review Group' Immune System in Health and Disease; MRC Infections and Immunology Board and research grant panels for Arthritis Research UK, MS Society UK; National Kidney Research Fund and National Institutes of Health, USA.
2) Former member/Chair of Scientific Advisory Group/Board: MRC Prion Unit; Manchester Collaborative Centre for Inflammation Research; MRC-GSK EMINENT Network; JDRF/LRA/NMSS; MRC-Clinical Academic Research Partnership scheme.
3) Head of Department of Pathology and Microbiology, University of Bristol 1996-2005.
Prof. Wraith's Industry Responsibilities:
1) Founder and CSO for Apitope Technology (Bristol) Ltd. & Apitope International NV.
2) Past member of Scientific Advisory Boards for Peptide Therapeutics Ltd. (UK), TEVA (Israel) and GSK BIO (Belgium).
3) Advisor to Hoffman La Roche on autoimmune therapeutics; DTI on Stem Cell Therapies; Food Standards Agency on Peanut Allergy; Novartis on Influenza Vaccine Safety; Actelion Pharma, Technology Strategy; Zealand Pharma, Technology Strategy.
4) Expert witness at the European Patent Office, Opposition Division and Technical Boards of Appeal.
Prof. Wraith's Professional Awards and Honors:
He has been awarded research fellowships by the Medical Research Council (UK), National MS Society (US), Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge and the Wellcome Trust.
In last two decades, as the Principle Investigator (PI) Prof. Wraith succeeded in applying for research grants valued more than £8 million, in addition to his co-application of £20 million grants from numerous entities such as Wellcome Trust, Multiple Sclerosis Society.