Professor Paul Moss OBE FMedSci MB.BS PhD FRCPath

• M.A. Medical Sciences (University of Cambridge)
• B.M. B.S. (University of Oxford)
• Member of Royal College of Physicians UK
• Fellow of Royal College of Pathologists
• Ph.D
• Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences
• Order of the British Empire (OBE)

Teaching Programmes

• MBChB
• BMedSci
• Clinical Oncology MSc/PG Dip

Teaching Activity

• Professor Moss makes substantial contributions to teaching both within the University of Birmingham and beyond, including Undergraduate and Postgraduate lectures.   
• He is external examiner for the Part II Pathology degree at the University of Cambridge. He was previously Deputy Chair of the funding panel of Starter Grants for Clinical Lecturers at the Academy of Medical Sciences.
• He has supervised over 40 students to PhD award and has mentored several colleagues to successful Fellowship awards.
• He was co-author for several editions of Essential Haematology, one the most popular haematology textbooks in the world, and has recorded successful online lectures series. 

Research themes 

Background

• Professor Moss’s research is founded in translational immunology and reaches from fundamental science through to clinical studies. He has published >250 papers with >40,000 citations on PubMed.
• During his PhD he was the first to show that the T cell receptor (TCR) sequence on CD8+ T cells can be highly conserved within different people in their recognition of the same peptide. This characterisation of ‘public TCRs’ demonstrated the potential utility of targeting conserved TCR sequences for clinical immunotherapy and uncovered the potential for TCR sequence databases to characterise prior infection history.
• He then led the UK team working on the initial application of HLA-peptide tetramers in collaboration with Mark Davis at Stanford, visualising HIV-specific T cells within blood samples in a seminal paper cited >4800 times. Given the burden of cytomegalovirus infection within leukaemia patients at that time, he used this technology to demonstrate the exceptional expansion of CMV-specific T cells in blood, the increase of this profile with age, and its link to increased mortality rate.
• Moss then transferred HLA-peptide tetramer technology to clinical scale and completed the first study of infusion of HLA-peptide tetramer-selected CMV-specific T cells for treatment of CMV in immune suppressed patients. This technology was adopted by centres around the world and was a cornerstone for the creation, by Gregg Sando, of Cell Medica, one of the first cell therapy companies in the world.
• Professor Moss played a leading role in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, linking 20 major centres into the £6.5M UK Coronavirus Immunology Consortium (UK-CIC) and selected by Sir Patrick Vallance to lead the £18M Immunology theme of the COVID-19 National Core Studies (NCS). HIs laboratory also completed a range of definitive studies during the pandemic including the first demonstration of robust cellular immunity.
• His work has also made major contributions to the study of cancer and transplant immunotherapy. He is a leading figure in care of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and worked with colleagues to define mutations within the ATM gene as one of the most common single gene disorders. His work in stem cell transplantation used HLA-peptide tetramers to characterise alloreactive T cells.
• Professor Moss's work has been supported by several programmatic grant awards and collaborations with industry and his discoveries have been taken into clinical trials. 

Current research activity 

• Professor Moss’s research is focussed around the application of translational immunological research in the study of human disease. His research group includes clinical and non-clinical research scientists working on a range of different projects: 

The immune response to cancer

• The Moss group study the innate and adaptive immune response in several human cancers including leukaemia, pancreatic, oesophageal, ovarian and testicular cancer, using a range of contemporary laboratory and data technologies. Projects include identification of mechanisms of immune evasion and immunotherapeutic tumour targeting using cellular and antibody therapies. 

Immune control of human viral infection

• Primary interests include characterisation of cellular and humoral immunity against acute and persistent viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 and cytomegalovirus, and how this can be applied to reduce disease burden. Recent work has completed the first detailed assessment of immune cell repertoire within UK Biobank and its link to health outcomes. 

Immunological determinants of clinical outcome following stem cell transplantation

• Immunological mechanisms underpin the efficacy of stem cell (bone marrow) transplantation and current research assesses how hallmarks of immune reconstitution in the very early period following transplantation can act to define long term clinical outcome. Through analysis of samples taken within the first 14 days after transplant the team are assessing how the alloreactive immune response is established, and how it may be manipulated to improve patient outcomes.

Clinical Activity/NHS Affiliation

• Professor Moss is an Honorary Consultant at the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust. His primary interests are in haemato-oncology with a specialist interest in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia where he runs a weekly clinic. He became an NIHR Senior Investigator in 2018.
• Professor Moss is Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Medical Research Foundation (medicalresearchfoundation.org.uk), a charitable foundation formed by the Medical Research Council which will invest £50 million in life-changing medical research between 2019 and 2029.
• In 2020 he developed and led the £6.5M UK Coronavirus Immunology Consortium (UK-CIC) and the Immunity theme of the UK government COVID-19 National Core Studies Programme. He was Chair of the Programme board of the £12 million UK Regenerative Medicines Network until its completion in 2024.
• He also acts as Chair of the Innovate Biomedical Catalyst Major Awards Panel and previous appointments include Chairing funding panels at the Medical Research Council, Wellcome and Cancer Research UK.
• He was a member of the UK REF panels in 2024 and 2021.
• Professor Moss sits on several grant review panels including the European Research Council (ERC) and national funding panels across Europe.