Download MRes Cancer Sciences - Postgraduate Virtual Open Days

Project Title
Title:
Professor
BENJAMIN
WILLCOX
Professor
of
Molecular
Immunology
Duration:
2 mins
My name is Ben Willcox. I’m professor of molecular immunology at the
University of Birmingham. I’m one of the module leads for the Cancer,
Immunology and Immunotherapy module, which is a component of the
Cancer Sciences MRes course.
The programme is a one-year Masters programme that gives a broad
grounding in cancer cell biology and therapeutics, and it’s for students with an
undergraduate biomedical degree to 2:1 standard or higher.
The programme entails a number of different modules, including a core
module on cancer cell biology. The module I’m involved in is a new module for
this year and it’s focused on cancer, immunology and immunotherapy.
The programme’s assessed by a number of different means, such as multiple
choice questions, an essay, short-answer questions; but also the students
have the opportunity to carry out a research project in this area, giving them,
potentially, multiple months working on this topic.
So our module is particularly topical because this is a really exciting area of
tumour biology at the moment, and also cancer treatment. The idea of
harnessing the body’s immune system to fight cancer – it’s an extremely
exciting growth area and one of substantial interest for both funding bodies
and academic institutions, and also industry, who are all trying to increase
their footprint in this area. So this module and this programme, as a whole,
should put students in a really excellent place to capitalise on those
opportunities going forward.
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Project Title
So why this course? I think primarily because it offers a broad grounding in
cancer – biology and cancer sciences, but also at a place, the University of
Birmingham, which has strong clinical links and has excellent people
delivering the lectures, both including clinicians and also fundamental
scientists, to create that combination of knowledge to impart upon the
students that can give them a really excellent grounding in how – what the
cutting edge of cancer, biology and immunology and also cancer treatment is.
END OF RECORDING
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