Debra Josephs, BSc, MBChB, MRCP, PhD was appointed NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer in Medical Oncology at King’s College London/Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in 2013.

Dr Josephs qualified in medicine from Edinburgh University, including a one year intercalated BSc in Pharmacology, in 2004. Following general medical training in London, she commenced her specialist training in medical oncology at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. One year into this training, in 2009, she was awarded a Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and Comprehensive Cancer Imaging Centre (CCIC) clinical research fellowship to undertake a PhD in Translational Cancer Immunology at Kings College London. This work focused on the pre-clinical development of a tumour-targeting IgE antibody as a novel approach to cancer immunotherapy and examined whether harnessing IgE antibody-mediated immune responses against tumour cells in tissues, holds promise for the treatment of cancer. Following completion of her PhD, in March 2013 she was awarded an NIHR Academic Clinical Lectureship, with grant-funding from the Academy of Medical Sciences, which will allow her to continue the work she commenced during her PhD whilst completing her clinical training, with a focus on clinical research.

During her clinical training to date, Dr Josephs has spent 9 months on the Early Phase Clinical Trials Unit at Guy’s Hospital gaining specialist experience in the design and conduct of early phase cancer clinical trials and translational medicine. In 2014 she was appointed the first trainee member of the NCRI Gynaecological Oncology Clinical Studies Group. She teaches undergraduate KCL students and is supervising a student undertaking a higher research degree.