Dr Harriet Walter

Dr Harriet Walter studied Medicine at the University of Birmingham, from which she graduated with honours in 2006. She undertook her early postgraduate training within the West Midlands and Oxford Deanery prior to commencing speciality training in Medical Oncology in the East Midlands. She undertook a PhD within The Ernest and Helen Scott Haematological Research Institute at the University of Leicester during her training, under the supervision of Professor Martin Dyer, studying Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitors in B-cell malignancies. During this time she developed her interest in Phase I trials.

Dr Walter subsequently secured a 3 year Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Fellowship to develop her expertise in clinical trial delivery and spent a 3 month period at the University of Southampton within the Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit.

She completed her speciality training during this fellowship and was appointed to her current role as Associate Professor in Medical Oncology at the University of Leicester in 2019.

Dr Walter is the Phase I lead in Oncology at University Hospitals of Leicester. Her laboratory interests are focused on precision medicines in B cell malignancies, including bispecific antibodies.

Dr Walter’s clinical practice involves delivery of a Phase I portfolio across haematological malignancies and solid tumours. In addition Dr Walter provides systemic treatments for the management of head and neck cancer.

Dr Walter’s research interests are in therapeutic drug development, the design and delivery of early phase clinical trials, and the development and assessment of novel therapies in B cell malignancies.

In support of this the following grants and funding have been obtained:

• 2022: University of Leicester (£20,000) Sequential MRD analysis in patients receiving a Bruton’s Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor.
• 2022: Hope Against Cancer (£8,450) Identifying dysfunctional T-cell signatures in patients with aggressive diffuse large B cell lymphoma.
• 2021: Invivoscribe Grant Award ctDNA for disease monitoring and clonal tracking in MCL.
• 2020: MRC iCASE PhD studentship (Principle Investigator).
• 2020: Gilead UK & I Fellowship Programme Grant: £37,315 (Principle Investigator).
• 2017-2020: CRUK Clinical Trial Fellowship: £95,165.89 (Personal Fellowship).
• 2019-2022: LPMI/Hope PhD studentship: £50,000 (Principle Investigator).
• 2019: Hope against Cancer & ECMC support: £21,000 (Martin Dyer/Harriet Walter), Single cell RNA-sequencing to assess mechanisms of therapeutic resistant in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
• 2017-2018: Hope against Cancer: £26,500 (Martin Dyer/Harriet Walter), Detection and assessment of circulating tumour DNA in patients with Diffuse Large B cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) as a predictive marker of residual disease or early relapse.

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AV Danilov, C Herbaux, HS Walter et al. Phase Ib Study of Tirabrutinib in Combination with Idelalisib or Entospletinib in Previously Treated Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. Clinical Cancer Research. 2020;26(12):2810-2818.  https://doi.org/10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-19-3504

RG Owen, H McCarthy, S Rule, HS Walter et al. Acalabrutinib monotherapy in patients with Waldenstram macroglobulinemia: a single-arm, multicentre, phase 2 study. Lancet Haematology 2020;7(2):e112-e121. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-3026(19)30210-8.

IW Flinn, JG Gribben, MJS Dyer, HS Walter et al. Phase 1b study of venetoclax-obinutuzumab in previously untreated and relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Blood. 2019;133(26):2765-2775. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood-2019-01-896290

TA Eyre, HS Walter, S Iyengar et al. Efficacy of venetoclax monotherapy in patients with relapsed, refractory mantle cell lymphoma after Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy. Haematologica. 2019;104(2):e68-e71.  https://doi.org/10.3324%2Fhaematol.2018.198812

HS Walter, C Trethewey, MJ Ahearne, et al. Successful treatment of primary cutaneous diffuse large B cell lymphoma leg type with single agent venetoclax. JCO Precision Oncology. 2019;3:1-5.  https://doi.org/10.1200/po.19.00002

R Kozaki, M Vogler, HS Walter et al. Responses to the selective Bruton's Tyrosine Kinase (BTK) inhibitor Tirabrutinib (ONO/GS-4059) in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma cell lines. Cancers (Basel). 2018;10(4):127. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers10040127

M Vogler, HS Walter, MJS Dyer. Targeting anti-apoptotic BCL2 family proteins in haematological malignancies - from pathogenesis to treatment. British Journal of Haematology 2017;178(3):364-379. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjh.14684

HS Walter, S Jayne, SA Rule et al. Long-term follow-up of patients with CLL treated with the selective Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor ONO/GS-4059. Blood. 2017;129(20):2808-2810. https://doi.org/10.1182%2Fblood-2017-02-765115

HS Walter, S Jayne, P Mensah et al.  Obinutuzumab-induced coagulopathy in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) with trisomy 12. Blood Cancer Journal 2016;6:e435 https://doi.org/10.1038/bcj.2016.42.

HS Walter, GA Salles, MJS Dyer. New agents to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia. New England Journal of Medicine 2016;374(22):2185-2186.  https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmc1602674

Dr Walter supervises a number of PhD students funded by the MRC DTP scheme (iCASE studentship with Isogenica), LPMI and Hope Against Cancer/ LCRC. She also supervises academic clinical trainees, MSc and BSc students.

Dr Walter teaches on the MSc Cancer Molecular Pathology and Therapeutics course.

Novel therapies in the treatment of B cell malignancies.

• Medical Advisor for Cancer Research UK Centre for Drug Development.
• Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Fellowship Grant Committee.
• Cancer Research UK CTU QQR Expert Review Panel and other invited reviews.

• 2018: College of Life Sciences PhD Prize.
• 2017: Royal College of Physicians and National Institute for Health Research Trainee Award for contribution to research.
• 2017-2018: European Hematology Association Clinical Research Training Award in Hematology (EHA CRTH).

• Therapeutic drug development.
• Design and delivery of early phase clinical trials.
• Development and assessment of novel therapies in B cell malignancies.

• 2003: BMedSci (Hons): Cellular pathology and Neuropharmacology (2.1). The University of Birmingham Medical School.
• 2006: MBChB with honours. The University of Birmingham Medical School.
• 2009: MRCP (United Kingdom).
• 2012: MSc Oncology (Distinction). Nottingham University.
• 2013: MRCP Specialty Certificate Examination in Medical Oncology.
• 2018: PhD. Studies of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitors in B-cell malignancies. Leicester Cancer Research Centre, University of Leicester.
• 2020: Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Authority (AFHEA).