Prof. Leonard Seymour University of Oxford, UK

Professor Leonard Seymour is Professor of Gene Therapies, Director of the Clinical Pharmacology Section within the Department of Oncology, and Head of the Cancer Research UK Medicinal Virology Group at the University of Oxford. His overarching research interest lies in combining an understanding of key aspects of genetic engineering with... read moreprinciples of chemistry and pharmaceutics, enabling design and translational development of innovative strategies for treatment of cancer and other diseases. With interests predominantly in viral therapeutics, he leads an integrated research group with expertise ranging from molecular virology and immunology through cell biology to pharmaceutical and polymer chemistry, with a strong translational ethos to engender early phase clinical studies. He is a scientific founder and former Board member of Hybrid Biosystems Ltd which, in 2010, merged with Myotec Therapeutics Ltd to became PsiOxus Therapeutics, a biotechnology company that produces novel therapeutics particularly for cancer treatment and which is currently conducting a series of clinical trials exploring intravenous delivery of oncolytic viruses for treatment of advanced cancer. In 2012 he was a founding scientist of Oxford Genetics Ltd, a plasmid company developing a modular approach to molecular cloning in order to improve the efficiency of genetic engineering and synthetic biology. Professor Seymour is also the Secretary General and Trustee of the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy and an Executive Council Member of the International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy of Cancer. He has supervised over 30 PhD students, has filed 12 patents and published more than 150 primary scientific papers.