Stromal Immunology

Dr. Benjamin Owens is Head of Business Development at EUSA Pharma and an RF Lecturer in Medicine at Somerville College, University of Oxford. His prior academic research programmes focused on the role of intestinal stromal cells in human chronic intestinal inflammation. In addition to his role in Industry, he teaches stromal immunology to final year medical students. Dr. Matthew Lakins is a Senior Scientist at F-star Biotechnology Ltd. in Cambridge, UK. Prior to this he was an MRC Career Development Fellow at the MRC Cancer Unit at the University of Cambridge. Here his research interests lay at the interface of tumor-associated stromal biology and immunology, ultimately working toward understanding and exploiting the ability of the tumor microenvironment to manipulate host tumor immunogenicity. Together, Dr. Owens and Dr. Lakins founded the BSI Stromal Immunology affinity group in 2010 and have since organized two international meetings in York and Cambridge.

Leukocyte-Stromal Interactions within Lymph Nodes.- Stromal Cell Responses in Infection.- Fibroblasts and Osteoblasts in Inflammation and Bone Damage.- Molecular and Cellular Requirements for Tertiary Lymphoid Organs.- Molecular and Cellular Requirements for Tertiary Lymphoid Organs.- Mesenchymal Stem Cells as Endogenous Regulators of Inflammation.- Stromal cells in the Tumor Microenvironment II.- Immunosuppression by Intestinal Stromal Cells.- Novel models to Study Stromal Cell Leukocyte Interactions in Health and Disease.