Rate My Professor Andrew Sewell

Professor Andrew Sewell is a Distinguished Research Professor and Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator in the Division of Infection and Immunity at Cardiff University School of Medicine. He serves as the Mechanisms of Immunity Theme Lead within the Systems Immunity Research Institute. Sewell trained in Chemistry and obtained his PhD in Genetics from the University of Liverpool. He conducted postdoctoral research in Utah before returning to the United Kingdom, where he investigated HIV immune evasion at the University of Oxford and was appointed a Wellcome Trust Senior Fellow. In 2006, he joined Cardiff University, establishing a prominent laboratory dedicated to advancing T-cell immunology.

Sewell’s research focuses on T-cell antigens and the receptors that recognize them, spanning infection, transplant tolerance, vaccination, cancer immunotherapy, and autoimmune disease. His group has pioneered discoveries such as novel anticancer T-cells with broad tumor specificity, including MR1-restricted T-cells that target diverse cancers independently of traditional MHC presentation, raising prospects for universal therapies. Notable publications include "Targeting of multiple tumor-associated antigens by individual T cell receptors during successful cancer immunotherapy" (Cell, 2023), demonstrating how single T-cell receptors engage multiple cancer antigens in patients with complete remission; "Emergence of immune escape at dominant SARS-CoV-2 killer T cell epitope" (Cell, 2022), identifying viral mutation strategies; "Genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 screening reveals ubiquitous T cell cancer targeting via the monomorphic MHC class I-related protein MR1" (Nature Immunology, 2020), revealing pan-cancer T-cell potential; and "A probiotic bacterium modulates antitumour γδ T-cell responses in lung cancer" (Frontiers in Immunology, 2026). With over 17,000 citations across 338 publications, Sewell’s contributions have profoundly influenced immunotherapy development, fostering international collaborations and clinical advancements.