Background
Seymour was born in Plymouth England in 1958, to parents Percy and Daisy Seymour.
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Leonard Seymour
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He is a scientist specialising in translational cancer research with a particular interest in targeted delivery of cancer therapies and recombinant vaccines. Combining expertises from the fields of polymer chemistry and cell biology, Seymour specialises in interdisciplinary approaches to delivery of drugs, genes and oncolytic viruses. The core of his research has been supported by Cancer Research United Kingdom for over 20 years.
He qualified in Biochemistry from Manchester University and developed a research group focused on gene delivery at the Cancer Research United Kingdom Institute in Birmingham.
He moved to Oxford in 2003 as gene therapy Lead for the National Translational Cancer Research Network (NTRAC). He was instrumental in forming The British Society for Gene Therapy (BSCGT) as a means to build the translational gene and cell therapy community in the United Kingdom and to address poor public perception of the field and its medical potential.
He served as the first President of the BSGCT from 2003–2009, during which time the field became firmly established as a valid new approach to treatment of several genetic diseases. He currently serves as the General Secretary of the European Society for Gene and Cell Therapy and is indexed in Who"s Who.
With Doctor Kerry Fisher, Seymour formed a biotech spinout company "Hybrid Systems" which later became ‘PsiOxus Therapeutics Limited’, with Cancer Research United Kingdom and the University of Birmingham.
PsiOxus is now developing a cancer-killing "oncolytic" group B adenovirus "ColoAd1" in a series of clinical trials to treat cancer. More recently, with Doctor Ryan Cawood, Seymour formed the plasmid expression company Oxford Genetics, aiming to enable major improvements in the efficiency of genetic engineering and synthetic biology. Seymour has produced over 140 primary scientific publications, attracts research grants valued in excess of £1m p.a. and leads an interdisciplinary research group of 18 scientists.
