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From the Director - May 2014

5 May 2014

In the last issue of Scope I indicated that the age of immunotherapy is coming.

The announcement by the leading scientific journal Science that cancer immunotherapy was the worldwide scientific breakthrough of 2013, shows how close we are getting. This optimism is shared by us at the Institute when considering the speed of progress we’re making.

Whilst I am excited about this wave of good news, there are clear challenges ahead of us. Every disease is unique, and our quest for effective immunotherapies requires expert knowledge of the complexities of our immune systems and the idiosyncrasies of the cancers and allergic diseases we are trying to eliminate.

Another challenge is that as we age, the ability of our immune system to fight infection and respond to vaccines lessens. Approaches that rejuvenate the ageing immune system would significantly help decrease healthcare costs for society, making it a priority research area globally.

Your support drives our discoveries from the laboratory into the community, bridging the divide between theory and care for our friends and family. This has always been my goal for the Malaghan Institute - to understand disease, not for the sake of it, but to control it.

 

This article features in the May 2014 issue of our Scope newsletter (Issue 53).  Download the full newsletter here - 506 KB (PDF)