Abstract

This Cambridge Immunology Network Seminar will take place on Thursday 13 November 2025, starting at 4:30pm, in the Ground Floor Lecture Theatre, Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre (JCBC)

Speaker: Prof Mark Cragg, Professor in Experimental Cancer Biology, University of Southampton

Title: “Engineering antibodies for agonism: from Fc to Fab”

Talk abstract: Antibodies are now a major source of new therapeutics, leveraging the ability of the immune system to improve treatment outcomes. However, agonistic antibodies directed to immunostimulatory receptors remain an untapped source for immunotherapy. The salient properties of antibodies required to optimally agonise these receptors will be discussed and potential strategies for leveraging them for immune activation and anti-tumour efficacy explored. Using TNFR superfamily receptors as a paradigm, the role of the Fc, hinge and Fab affinity in delivering optimal receptor agonism will be outlined.

Bio: Mark Cragg is Professor of Experimental Cancer Biology in the School of Cancer Sciences at the University of Southampton Faculty of Medicine. His research concerns how therapeutics result in tumour regression with a focus on antibodies and small molecules, with a particular interest in Fc receptors and TNFR family members. The aim is to understand how these therapeutics delete tumour cells, how resistance occurs, and how it might be overcome through antibody engineering. Throughout the strategy undertaken is highly translational with iterative cycling between in vitro experiments, appropriate in vivo model systems, and primary clinical material. He sits on advisory boards for several charities and institutes nationally and internationally.

Host: Tim Halim, CRUK , Cambridge

Refreshments will be available following the seminar.