Rate My Professor Sergio Rutella

Professor Sergio Rutella is a licensed haematologist and Professor of Cancer Immunotherapy at the John van Geest Cancer Research Centre, Nottingham Trent University, where he serves as Director. Qualified with MD, PhD, FRCPath, and FRSB credentials, his career embodies the bench-to-bedside-to-bench approach in haematology. Over the past 25 years, he has spearheaded clinical and translational research on immunotherapy to improve outcomes for patients with haematological malignancies, with particular emphasis on antibody-based therapies and haematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Rutella maintains an extensive record of leading studies with strong correlative components and fostering collaborations across basic and clinical disciplines.

Leading the Genomics-Guided Cancer Immunotherapy Group in the School of Science and Technology, Rutella's work at Nottingham Trent University centers on mapping cancer-immune interactions in individual patients and identifying biomarkers to enable precision immunotherapies, optimize treatment decisions, and reduce toxicity. His research interests encompass novel immunotherapies for acute myeloid leukaemia, IFN-gamma-driven tumour immune evasion, analysis of high-dimensional transcriptomic data from tumours, and pharmacological reactivation of mutant TP53 in leukaemia. He has produced 216 peer-reviewed publications (h-index 55; i10-index 166; over 10,500 citations), 13 book chapters, and garnered £4,606,278 in research funding as principal or co-investigator. Prominent works include 'Immune landscapes predict chemotherapy resistance and immunotherapy response in acute myeloid leukemia' (Science Translational Medicine, 2020), 'Flotetuzumab as salvage immunotherapy for refractory acute myeloid leukemia' (Blood, 2020), and 'A parsimonious 3-gene signature predicts clinical outcomes in an acute myeloid leukemia multicohort study' (Blood Advances, 2019). Rutella earned the Vice Chancellor's Outstanding Researcher Award in 2019 and teaches on MSc modules such as Research Project, Research Methods and Bioethics, and Immunology and Virology. His contributions have enhanced management and survival rates for patients with aggressive, treatment-resistant cancers through international teamwork and genomic innovations.