Nelson Family funding will drive forward improved treatments for rare cancer

Led by Dr Shivan Sivakumar, the programme focuses on improving outcomes for patients with liver and pancreatic cancers including bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma), a rare disease that has a particularly poor survival rate of around 5%.

The research has been made possible thanks to a significant philanthropic donation from two private donors, Darren and Katie Nelson.

Katie was treated for cholangiocarcinoma after a stage 4 diagnosis in March 2025. During her treatment, led by Dr Sivakumar, she and Darren made the decision to fund two Clinical Academic Fellows to support research into the disease. After Katie died, in January 2026, Darren, along with their two daughters, Jessica and Lucie are continuing their work to raise awareness, as well as new approaches to treatment.

While the standard treatment for cholangiocarcinoma is chemotherapy, a recent clinical trial identified promising results using a new ‘immune-boosting’ drug called durvalumab.

Durvalumab turbo-charges cancer-fighting immune cells, called T cells. Each T cell within the human body has the potential to recognise and attack a different type of infected cell and the Birmingham team want to find out more about how T cells treated with durvalumab might interact with cancer cells in the bile-duct.

Dr Sivakumar explained: ‘Our initial experiments have enabled us to use the genomics expertise at Birmingham to identify changes in T cells that might help us work out whether this particular therapy is working for the patient and why, and also whether they will be at risk of side effects.’

The Clinical Academic Fellowships funded by Darren and Katie are supporting the University’s collaborative research with hospital partners including the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, and increasing the clinical time available for patients. Clinical academic cancer research is crucial as it bridges the gap between lab discoveries and patient care, creating new treatments and healthcare pathways and ultimately improving health outcomes.

In an interview last year, Katie said one of the main reasons for funding the programme was to improve the experience of people being treated. She said: ‘Everybody should have access to the right treatment that will give them the best chance of a successful outcome.’

Reducing the time taken between diagnosis and treatment is therefore an important additional goal of the programme.

Emma Norman, one of the new fellows, said: ‘This role is an amazing opportunity to work directly with patients to understand their experiences and, ultimately, help to shape and improve the current treatment pathway in Birmingham.’

‘A big part of the reason we are funding this research is to support system change in addition to laboratory research,’ added Darren. ‘It’s not necessarily about investing additional money, but about thinking about different ways to approach treatment. This is what we want to achieve.’

Find out more about this research

To find out how you can support research at the University of Birmingham contact the Development and Alumni Relations Office.