Targeting epigenetic mechanisms of immune evasion in cancer

Speaker Biography

Associate Professor Marian Burr is a clinician scientist, Snow Fellow and Laboratory Head at the John Curtin School of Medical Research. Marian completed medical school and early clinical training before undertaking a PhD at the University of Cambridge studying MHC class I regulation in Prof Paul Lehner's laboratory. She subsequently pursued clinical training in histopathology and established a cancer immunology research program in Cambridge before joining Prof Mark Dawson’s lab at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (2016-2020) supported by a prestigious Cancer Research UK Clinician Scientist Fellowship. Her research lies at the intersection of cancer cell biology, epigenetics and immune regulation and is coupled with a clinical interest in the pathology of lung and thoracic malignancies. Employing genome scale functional genetic screening her program has uncovered new targets for cancer immunotherapy, published in high-impact journals such as Nature and Cancer Cell, and ultimately aims to develop new treatments to overcome immunotherapy resistance and improve outcomes for patients with advanced cancers.