Professor Phil Darcy, Ph.D.

Scientific Advisory Board Member

Professor Phil Darcy is an internationally respected leader in cancer immunology and engineered T‑cell therapies, with a distinguished track record in advancing CAR‑T and adoptive cell immunotherapy from preclinical discovery to clinical application. He holds a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Senior/Principal Research Fellowship, is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, and has extensive experience in academic leadership, translational immunotherapy research, and multidisciplinary collaboration.

Professor Darcy is Group Leader of the Cancer Immunotherapy Laboratory and Co‑Head of the Cancer Immunology Program at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, where he leads research to enhance the efficacy, persistence, and safety of CAR‑T cells across haematological and solid tumour settings.

He led the first CAR‑T cell clinical trial in Australia, conducted at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in patients with acute myeloid leukaemia, establishing afoundation for next‑generation engineered T‑cell therapies in the region. His high‑impact publications in premier scientific journals demonstrate innovative approaches to enhance metabolic fitness, persistence, and functional breadth of CAR‑T cells against challenging cancer targets. He has published over 200 papers with >26,000 citations and a current H index of 86.