Ian Hermans
Professor
Department of Cancer Research
Malaghan Institute of Medical Research
New Zealand
Biography
Professor Ian Hermans oversees the Malaghan Institute's cancer immunotherapy programme. Ian studied dendritic cell-based vaccination with Professor Franca Ronchese at the Malaghan Institute between 1995 and 2001 before taking up a position at the Tumour Immunology Unit, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, at the University of Oxford, UK. In 2005 he returned to the Institute and was awarded a Sir Charles Hercus Research Fellowship from the Health Research Council of New Zealand to pursue his research into improving the potency and efficacy of vaccines by exploiting the activity of NKT cells. His group has shown that NKT cells have the capacity to directly enhance the function of dendritic cells and therefore indirectly influence the quality of the whole immune response.
Research Interest
The overall goal of my research is to design more effective vaccines against diseases such as cancer. It is known that white blood cells called T cells can kill tumour cells. Vaccines that induce the activity of T cells therefore hold considerable promise as new therapeutic agents. We are looking at the specific immune cell populations involved in eliciting effective immune responses to vaccination, including the dendritic cells responsible for stimulating T cells, and other less well-known cells, called innate like T cells – which includes NKT cells - that contribute to the induced response. Working together with chemists, we are aiming to define compounds that can be incorporated into vaccines to ensure optimum, coordinated activity of all of the immune cells involved. We are also exploring how other therapies for cancer, such as chemotherapy, radiation and hyperthermia, affect the immune system, with a view to combining these therapies with vaccination. We work closely with New Zealand leaders in the fields of immunology, medicinal chemistry and clinical oncology to test our vaccines in cancer patients.
Publications
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Speir, M., Hermans, I.F. and Weinkove, R. (2017) Engaging natural killer T cells as 'universal helpers' for vaccination. Drugs
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Professor Ian Hermans BSc(Hons) (Otago), MSc(Distinc) (Otago), PhD(VUW) Deputy Director of Research, Cancer Immunotherapy Programme Leader Professor Ian Hermans oversees the Malaghan Institute's cancer immunotherapy programme. Ian studied dendritic cell-based vaccination with Professor Franca Ronchese at the Malaghan Institute between 1995 and 2001 before taking up a position at the Tumour Immunology Unit, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, at the University of Oxford, UK. In 2005 he returned to the Institute and was awarded a Sir Charles Hercus Research Fellowship from the Health Research Council of New Zealand to pursue his research into improving the potency and efficacy of vaccines by exploiting the activity of NKT cells. His group has shown that NKT cells have the capacity to directly enhance the function of dendritic cells and therefore indirectly influence the quality of the whole immune response. Research interests The overall goal of my research is to design more effective vaccines against diseases such as cancer. It is known that white blood cells called T cells can kill tumour cells. Vaccines that induce the activity of T cells therefore hold considerable promise as new therapeutic agents. We are looking at the specific immune cell populations involved in eliciting effective immune responses to vaccination, including the dendritic cells responsible for stimulating T cells, and other less well-known cells, called innate like T cells – which includes NKT cells - that contribute to the induced response. Working together with chemists, we are aiming to define compounds that can be incorporated into vaccines to ensure optimum, coordinated activity of all of the immune cells involved. We are also exploring how other therapies for cancer, such as chemotherapy, radiation and hyperthermia, affect the immune system, with a view to combining these therapies with vaccination. We work closely with New Zealand leaders in the fields of immunology, medicinal chemistry and clinical oncology to test our vaccines in cancer patients. Research group Cancer Immunotherapy Programme Research Officer: Dr Nathaniel Dasyam Cancer Immunotherapy Programme Leader: Professor Ian Hermans Clinical Research Fellow: Dr Robert Weinkove Senior Research Officer: Kathryn Farrand Ching-Wen Tang Astrid Authier-Hall PhD Student: Joshua Lange Olivia Burn Regan Fu Kef Prasit Ellie-May Jarvis Postdoctoral Research Fellow: Dr Taryn Osmond Senior Research Fellow: Dr Olivier Gasser Clinical Trials Clinical Trials Manager: Evelyn Bauer GMP Production: Dr Brigitta Mester Research Nurse: Tess Ostapowicz Clinical Trial Project Coordinator: Bethany Andrews GMP Manager: Dr Giulia Giunti Clinical Fellow: Alice Maxwell Publications 2017 McGrath, A.J, Dolan, C., Cheong-Tilley, S., Herman, D.A.J, Naysmith, B., Zong, F., Galvonas, P, Farrand, K.J., Hermans, I.F., Brimble., M.A., Williams, D., Jin, J. and Tilley, R.D. (2017) Stability of polyelectrolyte-coated iron nanoparticles for T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials In press Brooks, C.R., van Dalen, C.J., Hermans, I.F., Gibson, P.G., Simpson, J.L., and Douwes, J. (2017) Sputum basophils are increased in eosinophilic asthma compared with non-eosinophilic asthma phenotypes. Allergy.
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McGrath, A.J, Dolan, C., Cheong-Tilley, S., Herman, D.A.J, Naysmith, B., Zong, F., Galvonas, P, Farrand, K.J., Hermans, I.F., Brimble., M.A., Williams, D., Jin, J. and Tilley, R.D. (2017) Stability of polyelectrolyte-coated iron nanoparticles for T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials In press
