Fellow

Professor Adrian Thrasher is Professor of Peadiatric Immunology at the Institute of Child Health UCL. He starts at a disadvantage because we were students together and I remember him from late night gatherings in the kebab shop in Tooting, However now he is one of the most exciting clinician scientists in the UK and has turned the hype of gene therapy into a reality. Trained in adult medicine, he went through the clinical academic training scheme funded by the Wellcome Trust -initially a Research Fellowship leading to a PhD in molecular immunology and gene therapy, then a Clinician Scientist award which allowed him to continue his research career whilst training in paediatrics, and finally a Senior Clinical Research Fellowship. Adrian has rapidly established himself as a leader of basic science gene therapy research, concentrating on the restoration of function in immunodeficiency diseases. He has played a leading role in defining the basic cytoskeletal defect in haematopoietic cells in Wiscott-Aldrich Syndrome and, of major importance, was the first to correct by gene transfer the underlying molecular defect in chronic granulomatous disease. He is in charge of the clinical gene therapy program at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, which was the first in the UK to achieve successful restoration of function and return to health of children with severe combined immunodeficiency. In a very short period, he has established his reputation internationally, and is a frequent key-note speaker at major gene therapy and immunology conferences. He is widely regarded as one of the leaders in gene therapy research worldwide.