Dr Helen Parry MBChB, MSc, PhD, MRCP, FRCPath

Dr Helen Parry

Department of Immunology and Immunotherapy
Associate Professor

Contact details

Address
Department of Immunology and Immunotherapy
Cancer Sciences Building
Mindelsohn Way
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Dr Helen Parry is an Associate Professor at The University of Birmingham and honorary consultant at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. She has received funding from The Wellcome Trust (PhD fellowship), Academy of medical sciences, and British Society of Haematology. Since completing her NIHR academic clinical lecturership in 2021, she has been funded by the UKRI and Blood Cancer UK as a Clinician Scientist.

Her current research areas include secondary immunodeficiency in haematological malignancies, focussing on Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL) and lymphomas. Her work involves studying patient immunity and the impact of novel therapies used to treat CLL and she has recently led the national NIHR-funded IMPROVE trial. She co-authors the British Society for Haematology (BHS) guidelines and is also interested in optimising the delivery of haematology services within a primary care setting. She has an interest in medical education, being the co-founder of Blooducation. 

Qualifications

  • FRCPath 2018
  • PhD, University of Birmingham 2016
  • MRCP (UK) 2009
  • MBChB (Hons) University of Birmingham 2006
  • MSc (Distinction) in pathological studies, University of Birmingham 2005

Teaching

  • MBChB programme – Immunology and infection module; cancer module
  • Supervisor for intercalating BSc students;
    • Masters in Research (MRes)
    • PhD students (she currently supervises 2 PhD students)

Research

Research themes:

  • Optimising vaccination strategies and minimising infection risk in patients with blood cancer
  • Investigating immunity in the setting of novel therapeutic agents, including CAR-T.

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Dallan, B, Parry, H, Moss, P & Nicoli, F 2024, 'Age differentially impacts adaptive immune responses induced by adenoviral versus mRNA vaccines against COVID-19', Nature Aging, vol. 4, pp. 1121-1136. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-024-00644-w

Parry, H 2024, 'Greater preservation of SARS-CoV-2 neutralising antibody responses following the ChAdOx1-S (AZD1222) vaccine compared to mRNA vaccines in haematopoietic cell transplant recipients', British Journal of Haematology. https://doi.org/10.1111/19874

OCTAVE-DUO investigators & Parry, H 2024, 'Immunogenicity of third dose COVID-19 vaccine strategies in patients who are immunocompromised with suboptimal immunity following two doses (OCTAVE-DUO): an open-label, multicentre, randomised, controlled, phase 3 trial', The Lancet Rheumatology, vol. 6, no. 6, pp. E339-E351. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2665-9913(24)00065-1

Loke, J, Upasani, V, Gaskell, C, Fox, S, Fletcher, R, Thomas, C, Hopkins, L, Kumari, A, Tang, T, Yafai, E, Boucher, R, Homer, V, Toth, A, Chan, YLT, Randall, K, Rider, T, O'nions, J, Drew, V, Pillai, A, Dungarwalla, M, Murray, D, Khan, A, Wandroo, F, Moore, S, Krishnamurthy, P, Huang, YJ, Knapper, S, Byrne, J, Zhao, R, Craddock, C, Parry, H, Moss, P, Stanworth, SJ & Lowe, DM 2023, 'Defective T‐cell response to COVID‐19 vaccination in acute myeloid leukaemia and myelodysplastic syndromes', British Journal of Haematology, vol. 202, no. 3, pp. 498-503. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjh.18894

Barber, VS, Peckham, N, Duley, L, Francis, A, Abhishek, A, Moss, P, Cook, JA & Parry, HM 2023, 'Protocol for a multicentre randomised controlled trial examining the effects of temporarily pausing Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy to coincide with SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and its impact on immune responses in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia', BMJ open, vol. 13, no. 9, e077946. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-077946

Parry, H, Moss, P, Stephens, C, Bentley, C, Brown, K, Amirthalingam, G, Hallis, B, Otter, A, Zuo, J & Moss, P 2022, 'Extended interval BNT162b2 vaccination enhances peak antibody generation', NPJ vaccines, vol. 7, no. 1, 14. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41541-022-00432-w

Walewska, R, Parry-Jones, N, Eyre, TA, Follows, G, Martinez-Calle, N, McCarthy, H, Parry, H, Patten, PEM, Riches, JC, Hillmen, P & Schuh, AH 2022, 'Guideline for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia', British Journal of Haematology, vol. 197, no. 5, pp. 544-557. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjh.18075

Parry, H, McIlroy, G, Moss, P, Damery, S, Tyson, G, Logan, N, Davis, C, Willett, B, Zuo, J, Ali, M, Kaur, M, Stephens, C, Brant, D, Otter, A, McSkeane, T, Rolfe, H, Faustini, S, Richter, A, Lee, S, Wandroo, F, Shafeek, S, Pratt, G, Paneesha, S & Moss, P 2022, 'Impaired neutralisation of SARS-CoV-2 delta variant in vaccinated patients with B cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia', Journal of Hematology and Oncology, vol. 15, no. 1, 3. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13045-021-01219-7

Tye, E, Jinks, E, Haigh, T, Kaul, B, Patel, P, Parry, H, Newby, M, Crispin, M, Kaur, N, Moss, P, Drennan, S, Taylor, G & Long, H 2022, 'Mutations in SARS-CoV-2 spike protein impair epitope-specific CD4+ T cell recognition', Nature Immunology, vol. 23, pp. 1726–1734. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-022-01351-7

Shields, AM, Venkatachalam, S, Shafeek, S, Paneesha, S, Ford, M, Sheeran, T, Kelly, M, Qureshi, I, Salhan, B, Karim, F, De Silva, N, Stones, J, Lee, S, Khawaja, J, Kaudlay, PK, Whitmill, R, Kakepoto, GN, Parry, HM, Moss, P, Faustini, SE, Richter, AG, Drayson, MT & Basu, S 2022, 'SARS-CoV-2 vaccine responses following CD20-depletion treatment in patients with haematological and rheumatological disease: a West Midlands Research Consortium study', Clinical and Experimental Immunology, vol. 207, no. 1, pp. 3-10. https://doi.org/10.1093/cei/uxab018

CHAMPION steering committee members, Constantine, A, Dimopoulos, K, Jenkins, P, Tulloh, RMR, Condliffe, R, Jansen, K, Chung, NAY, Oliver, J, Parry, H, Fitzsimmons, S, Walker, N, Wort, SJ, Papaioannou, V, von Klemperer, K & Clift, P 2022, 'Use of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Therapies in Patients with a Fontan Circulation: Current Practice Across the United Kingdom.', Journal of the American Heart Association, vol. 11, no. 1, e023035. https://doi.org/10.1161/jaha.121.023035

Letter

Roberts, T, Uwenedi, G, Bruton, R, McIlroy, G, Damery, S, Sylla, P, Logan, N, Scott, S, Lau, M, Elzaidi, A, Plass, S, Mallick, S, Spencer, K, Stephens, C, Bentley, C, Pratt, G, Zuo, J, Paneesha, S, Willett, B, Moss, P & Parry, H 2024, 'Enhancement of Omicron-specific immune responses following bivalent COVID-19 booster vaccination in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia', Blood Cancer Journal, vol. 14, no. 1, 22. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41408-023-00940-5

Farhat, M, Croft, W, Parry, HM, Verma, K, Kinsella, FAM, Xu, J, Bone, D, McSkeane, T, Paneesha, S, Pratt, G, Moss, P & Zuo, J 2024, 'PD-1 expression contributes to functional impairment of NK cells in patients with B-CLL', Leukemia, vol. 38, no. 8, pp. 1813-1817. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41375-024-02271-1

Parry, H, Moss, P, Uwenedi, G, Roberts, T, Sylla, P, Cook, J, Elzaidi, A, Lau, M, Drury, T, Bray, A, Mallick, S, Spencer, K, Bentley, C, Mcilroy, G, Scott, S, Logan, N, Zuo, J, Willett, B & Moss, P 2023, 'Robust generation of neutralising antibodies against Omicron variants following bivalent mRNA booster vaccine in elderly people aged >80 years', Journal of Infection. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinf.2023.08.014

Parry, H, Bruton, R, Roberts, T, Mcilroy, G, Damery, S, Sylla, P, Dowell, AC, Tut, G, Lancaster, T, Bone, D, Willett, B, Logan, N, Scott, S, Hulme, S, Jadir, A, Amin, U, Nicol, S, Stephens, C, Faustini, S, Al-taei, S, Richter, A, Blakeway, D, Verma, K, Margielewska-davies, S, Pearce, H, Pratt, G, Zuo, J, Paneesha, S & Moss, P 2022, 'COVID-19 vaccines elicit robust cellular immunity and clinical protection in chronic lymphocytic leukemia', Cancer Cell, vol. 40, no. 6, pp. 584-586. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccell.2022.05.001

View all publications in research portal

Expertise

Immunocompromised immunity; vaccine responses; clinical haematologist; blood cancer

Media experience

Expertise

Health policy; health management; primary care; general practice; NHS; National Health Service