Dr Richard Harbottle

Dr Richard Harbottle undertook his undergraduate degree in Scotland at
the University of St Andrews and his MSc, PhD and post-doctoral training
in a Gene Therapy lab at Imperial College London where he worked on
developing non-viral methods for introducing DNA into cells. He is
currently the Research Group Leader of the DNA Vector Laboratory at
the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) in Heidelberg. His lab is
now focused on the generation and application of novel, next-generation
DNA vectors for gene therapy and cell therapy and for the safe and
persistent genetic modification of cells. These DNA vectors provide
therapeutic transgene expression without the use of potentially toxic viral
components or the risk of insertional mutagenesis.
His laboratory recently made a breakthrough in the design of these DNA
vectors which allows their application in stem cells and primary human
cells. For the first time a non-integrating and non-viral vector system can
provide persistent transgene expression in these types of cells without
the risk of integrative mutagenesis or viral-mediated toxicity. His lab is
now applying this novel DNA Vector platform for immunotherapy,
regenerative medicine and personalized gene and cell therapy