Sustaining adoptive T cell immunity: defining the role of activated dendritic cells in solid tumours
Closing date: 23/11/2026
Clinical Research Training Fellowship: Sustaining adoptive T cell immunity: defining the role of activated dendritic cells in solid tumours
Lead Supervisors: Professor Santiago Zelenay
Co-Supervisors: Dr Jonathan Lim
Applications Deadline: 12:00pm Monday 23rd November 2026
Interviews: Friday 5th February 2027 (in Manchester)
Start date: September 2027
Project Keywords: dendritic cells, adoptive cell therapy, cancer immunology
Research Opportunity: Clinical Research Training Fellowship leading to the award of PhD
Project Outline
Adoptive cellular therapies, in which tumour-reactive T cells are expanded or engineered before being transferred into patients, have transformed the treatment of some blood cancers and are showing increasing promise in solid tumours. However, responses in solid cancers are often short-lived because transferred T cells fail to persist and progressively lose their ability to attack cancer cells within the tumour. Understanding what sustains these cells after they enter tumours is therefore a major challenge for improving cellular immunotherapy.
Dendritic cells (DCs) are best known for initiating immune responses by activating naïve T cells. Our recent work identified a distinct population of CCR7-expressing activated dendritic cells (actDCs) that is essential for effective anti-tumour immunity. Notably, we found that actDCs are also required for successful adoptive T cell therapy, even when fully activated tumour-specific T cells are transferred. Without actDCs, transferred T cells rapidly become dysfunctional, revealing an unexpected role for dendritic cells in maintaining ongoing anti-tumour responses.
This project will determine how actDCs sustain transferred T cells within solid tumours. Using unique genetically engineered mouse models developed in our laboratory, we will establish which dendritic cell populations are required, whether continued recognition of tumour antigens is necessary, and which signals provided by actDCs maintain T cell expansion, survival, localisation and function. Reporter models will allow us to visualise how actDCs and transferred T cells interact within tumours and how these interactions change during therapy.
| Crucially, mechanistic discoveries will be connected directly to clinical cellular immunotherapy through analysis of longitudinal tumour and blood samples from patients receiving immunotherapies, including adoptive cellular therapies. By defining how the tumour immune environment supports or undermines transferred T cells, this project aims to identify new strategies to improve the persistence and effectiveness of cellular therapies for solid cancers. |
Applications for this project are now open. Please complete your application on The University of Manchester website.
About Professor Santiago Zelenay (project Lead Supervisor)
In 2015, Santiago joined the CRUK Manchester Institute to establish the Cancer Inflammation and Immunity group. His laboratory combines fundamental and translational research to investigate the signals and pathways that dictate the establishment and maintenance of tumour inflammatory environments that promote or restrain malignant cancer growth naturally or following immunotherapy. His research spans basic mechanisms of tumour-immune interaction through to translational studies enabled by close collaborations with the CRUK National Biomarker Centre and medical oncologists at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust.
Santiago leads the Cancer Immunology Branch of the Lydia Becker Institute of Immunology and Inflammation and co-leads the Immunology theme of the CRUK Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence. In 2017, he was awarded the CRUK Future Leaders in Cancer Research Prize and, in 2019, along with co-authors of Zelenay et al. Cell 2015, he received the inaugural BIAL Award in Biomedicine.
Key information
Before submitting an application, please ensure you have read the information below about the funding arrangements and eligibility for our Clinical Research Training Fellowships.
We also encourage you to get in contact with the lead supervisor to discuss the project and any particulars.
Further information is available on the Clinical Research Training Fellowships webpage.
The clinical fellowships are usually tenable for three years, although in certain circumstances they may be four years duration. The Fellowship covers:
- running expenses,
- an appropriate salary in line with the applicant’s current NHS salary and grade
- full coverage of University PhD fees at the UK/home fee rate.
International Candidates
The University of Manchester aims to support the most outstanding applicants from outside the UK.
We are able to offer a limited number of bursaries to high-performing EU and international candidates, covering PhD fees only. Bursaries do not include financial support for visa/health surcharges.
We assess each EU and international candidate’s suitability for a bursary at the application and interview stages.
You must be a post-registration clinician, and ideally have a specialist post in a related subject, to apply for our Clinical Research Training Fellowships.
Applicants must hold an MBChB degree or an equivalent medical qualification. You should also hold, or be about to obtain, a minimum upper second class (or equivalent) undergraduate degree in a relevant subject. A related master’s degree would be an advantage.
It is generally expected that CRTFs will return to a training programme in the UK upon completion of their research degree.
International applicants (including EU nationals) must ensure they meet the academic eligibility criteria (including English Language) before contacting potential supervisors to express an interest in their project. Eligibility information can be found on the University’s Country Specific information page.
Applications for this programme are now open. Please submit your application on The University of Manchester application portal.
Key dates
- Applications open: Monday 5th October 2026
- Application deadline (all projects): 12:00pm Monday 23rd November 2026
- Clinical Interviews: Friday 5th of February 2027 (in Manchester)
- Start date: September 2027 with flexible starts for clinicians
Useful Links
Submit your application
Interested in applying for this opportunity? Submit your application on The University of Manchester application portal.
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