Sergio Quezada is a Professor of Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy at University College London Cancer Institute. He earned his undergraduate degree in biochemistry from the P. Universidad Católica de Chile and a Ph.D. from Dartmouth Medical School in the US. In 2004, he joined the laboratory of Prof James Allison at MSKCC, where he studied mechanisms governing anti-tumour T-cell immunity.

Following his postdoctoral training, Prof Quezada joined UCL Cancer Institute in the United Kingdom as head of the Immune Regulation and Tumour Immunotherapy group and supported by a Cancer Research UK Career Development Fellowship. His work is internationally recognised in the field of cancer immunology, tumour microenvironment, regulatory T cells and immune checkpoint blockade. His team’s research unveiled the critical role of Fc receptors and the tumour microenvironment in the mechanism of action of anti CTLA-4 antibodies, and he is an inventor of several key patents supporting the clinical development of antibodies targeting immune checkpoints including VISTA, ICOS and CD25. In the last few years, Prof Quezada co-led the development of a first in class Treg-depleting anti-human CD25 antibody with TUSK Therapeutics which was recently acquired by Roche who will lead the clinical development of this new immunotherapy.

Prof Quezada’s research also focuses in the characterization and interrogation of immune reactivity and function within the microenvironment of different human cancers including melanoma, lung and kidney cancers which is helping identify mechanisms of response and resistance to immunotherapy. He was a recipient of Dartmouth’s John W. Strohbern Medal for excellence in biomedical research, the Cancer Research Institute new investigator award, a CRUK Career Development Fellowship and a CRUK Senior Cancer Research Fellowship.