Prof Eileen Parkes

eileen.parkes@oncology.ox.ac.uk

Professor Eileen Parkes is Associate Professor at the University of Oxford and a Consultant Medical Oncologist in Experimental Medicine. She serves as Head of the Oxford Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC) and leads a translational research group investigating the tumour microenvironment of chromosomally unstable cancers.

During her PhD, Professor Parkes first described constitutive activation of the cGAS–STING pathway in BRCA-mutant cancers. She subsequently identified mechanisms by which tumours rewire this pathway to tolerate chronic innate immune stimulation, revealing key insights into cancer cell adaptation and immune signalling. In recognition of this work, she was awarded the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) Young Investigator Award and the ASCO Conquer Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award in 2019. In 2021, she was awarded a Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Career Development Fellowship.

Her current research focuses on tumour–immune interactions in chromosomally unstable cancers. Her work has identified mechanisms through which these tumours reshape their immune microenvironment to promote myeloid skewing, as well as factors regulating T cell fitness and therapeutic response. By integrating mechanistic biology with clinical insight, her programme aims to inform the development of novel immunotherapeutic strategies and improve outcomes for patients with cancer.

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