PhD student will use Covid virus to develop cancer jab

From September, James Christian, 23, will be studying for a PhD on the potential of using the Covid-19 virus to develop a vaccine which could boost the immune system and destroy cancer cells.

‘So many people’s lives are affected by cancer, but the immune system is a wondrous thing and because it is so flexible, it can target certain types of cancer,’ he said.

‘Some patients respond better than others. In poor responses patients have what’s called “cold” tumours. I’m hoping to use a patient’s previous immunity to make these tumours “hot’”and respond better to treatment.’

Some 94% of people have immunity to the Covid-19 virus, and Mr Christian will be modifying it to turn existing immune defences against cancer instead.

In addition to developing immunology research, Mr Christian’s PhD is personal to him.

His mother, Juliette, received treatment for breast cancer in both Guernsey and Southampton in 2020, while his father, Paul, is currently receiving chemotherapy at the Bulstrode Oncology Unit in Guernsey for bowel cancer.

‘I’ve seen both my parents go through rounds and rounds of treatment and get hit by this poison until either the cancer gives up or you do. Thankfully, my dad’s side effects are not too bad at the moment, but that’s not the case for everyone,’ he said.

‘If I can help my mum and dad then that’s of course, what I want to do, but even if I can’t, I’ll be helping someone else’s parents, or someone else’s child or friend in the future.’

Having studied previously at Elizabeth College and the University of Bath, his interest in immunology was sparked at a presentation hosted at Les Cotils by Professor Tim Elliott.

Mr Christian spent a placement year at the University of Southampton’s centre for cancer immunology, working alongside Professor Elliott, and will be returning there in September for his four-year PhD.

‘Immunotherapy is a promising treatment for cancer with fewer side effects, and we need to get to a point where that is the usual treatment people have – but more research is needed to get to that point, and I hope that my PhD will go some way in getting us there,’ he said.

His PhD is funded in part through donations from Guernsey residents to the Wessex Medical Trust, a bursary from Guernsey’s Healthxchange and the university’s cancer immunology fund.

Guernsey residents have a long history of supporting cancer research in Southampton, with £15m. of the £25m. needed to build the Centre for Cancer Immunology coming from people in the Channel Islands.